


Latibaer and the Village of the Elves

by lastoftheorder



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Elves, I have descended into this nightmare paved by lazytown and folklore, Why Nordic folklore?, Why!?!, the first chapter is pretty basic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-09-14 10:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 33,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9176659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lastoftheorder/pseuds/lastoftheorder
Summary: Stephanie is moving into Lazytown after the divorce of her parents to live with her uncle. There is a very mean, strange man named Robbie who seems to ruin everyone's fun. There's also a brave super hero who tries his best to keep the town a magical place for all of its inhabitants.Stephanie soon finds herself swept into the beautiful folklore of iceland as she searches for magical adventures both inside and out of the town.





	1. Chapter 1

Stephanie’s mother looked down at her daughter with a worried expression.

“This is going to be a bit difficult to tell you,” her mother began.

“The divorce is final, isn’t it.” Stephanie said, slumping on the table. She no longer had any appetite for dinner. Her mother frowned.

“You’re going to be living with my brother for a while. You remember Milford, don’t you? He’s going to love having you there! You’ll have so much fresh air.”

“But that’s all the way in Iceland! My friends are all here!” Stephanie said.

“Well, you’ll make friends over there!” her mother said, exasperated. Stephanie was heartbroken, but there was no changing her parents' mind.  
Iceland was going to be terrible.

********************************************************************************************************  
Stephanie wasn’t looking forward to the trip to Iceland. Her friends had already given her a farewell party, where they cut her hair short and dyed it pink, and gave her a football ( otherwise known as a soccer ball) as a farewell present. So, there was no one at the airport to see her off besides her mother, who was anxious to get back on the phone with the lawyer.

Stephanie sat down in the cramped seats next to an old woman and pulled out her journal. Today’s entry was going to be very interesting.

“Are you a writer?” the woman asked. Stephanie quickly hid her journal.

“Well, no. I just like to write about my day.”

“I hope it’s all good things.” the woman said.

“No, I’m afraid today is not my day.” Stephanie said.

“But this flight is going to Iceland, my dear. And what could be better than the land of fairies and folk tales?” she asked.

“Fairies?” Stephanie asked, “I don’t know if I believe in them.”

“Well you should, they can be quite dangerous. It’s best that you know all about them and go to Iceland prepared.” she said.

“Do you know stories about them?” Stephanie asked.

“I happen to have many stories about them. In Iceland, they are called the huldufolk, and they remain to be one of the greatest mysteries in the world.”

Stephanie listened with rapt attention to the beautiful world this woman was weaving for her. It was a land of mystery, filled with elves and trolls and adventure around every corner. As the plane landed, the woman gave her some final words of advice.

“Now, be sure to keep a tidy space,” the woman said, “And leave out plenty of treats for them to eat. If you do that, the huldufolk are sure to leave you in peace my dear. Though,   
it isn’t the elves you need to worry about, with a sweet lass like you, that’s for certain. And watch out for trolls.”

She took a bus initially, but once the trees grew wild and the street became dirt, the bus stopped and she had to walk the rest of the way. She held her small, frail map close to her and followed the winding dirt road up beside mountains.

After an hour of walking and getting dirt on her favorite pink dress, she saw a small, brightly colored town come into view. It lay among a patchwork of trees, farmlands, and hills. She lugged her suitcase behind her, anxious to finally be able to put it down.

A large sign stood at gate leading to lazytown, bearing the town’s name in bright, rounded letters. Stephanie walked in and put down her suitcases, staring with amazement at the town’s strange architecture. She also noticed a distinct lack of people anywhere to be found. She half expected a tumbleweed to come rolling past like she saw in western movies of ghost towns. There were weeds growing everywhere, and everything was in disarray.

“Ah! Welcome, Stephanie!” a cheerful voice called out. Her uncle stood there, with his balding head and paunchy stomach. Stephanie dropped her bags and ran to him to give him a hug.

“Uncle Milford! It’s so good to see you,” she said. He returned her embrace.

“Stephanie, it’s so nice to have you here. I’m glad that I can take care of you during this trying time,” he said. Stephanie’s throat closed up and her eyes began forming tears. She buried her face in his suit and let out a sob.  
“Oh, none of that Stephanie. You haven’t even tried my cooking yet!” He chuckled, and then his voice softened as he stroked Stephanie’s short hair. “You’ll have time to cry later, but now we should be celebrating. Let’s take your things to your new room, and then we’ll go somewhere to celebrate.” Stephanie pulled away and wiped away her tears.

“You’re right.” she picked up her suitcases, “Where are we going to go?”

“Well, what do you like?” Milford asked.

“I really like ice cream,” Stephanie said.

“Oh, well, we can’t do that. The shop has been abandoned for years.” he admitted.

“Is there any place to go have dinner?” she asked.

“No, not really. Sometimes there is a restaurant open, but that’s only for a few hours once a week, and the food there is terrible.” he said.

“Is there anything else we can do?” Stephanie asked.

“How about I make you dinner?” Milford asked, “But it will take me some time. I hope you don’t mind finding things to do in the meantime.” They reached his house. He led her to her room. Stephanie placed her things down.

“Is there are a park here in Lazytown?” she asked. Milford scratched the back of his head.

“Yes, but it’s rarely used. I don’t think I’ve seen people there for years.”

“Then where will I find kids to play with?” She asked.

“Kid’s playing? I’m afraid you won’t find any of that here. There are kids, but they don’t like going outside to play. They just like to watch television and eat sweets. I could get you their phone numbers if you would like to join them.”

Stephanie was heartbroken. She left her friends in England for this? She loved going outside to play! Maybe she could play on her own for a little while, at least until dinner was ready.

“Uncle, may I go out and play anyways? I can make fun on my own” she said. Her uncle nodded. She riffled through her suitcase and found the small football her friends had given her. Maybe if she played with the ball it would be like playing with her friends again.

It wasn’t. She threw it, caught it, kicked it, and bounced it on her knees and head but it just wasn’t fun. There wasn’t anything to do. She sat down on a bench and sighed, thinking about the stories the old woman told her on the boat.

“I bet an elf would play with me.” she said. She tried to imagine a lithe and limber elf playing in the run down town and laughed a little. Her laughter didn’t last for long, however. Her life had suddenly turned upside down, and no amount of pretending was going to change it. Her parents were divorcing, and neither of them wanted to bother with her. She was in a cold, unfamiliar town where kids didn’t like to play, and everything was run down and forgotten. What was she going to do?  
Stephanie reached out to grab her football, but she touched a piece of paper instead. She wiped away enough of her tears to see clearly. Her football was still there, there just was a piece of paper beside it. She grabbed it and read the simple words scribbled out on it.

Help is on the way  
-10

What was that supposed to mean? Stephanie shoved the paper in her pocket and grabbed her football. She could have sworn that wasn’t there before she sat down. The idea of someone coming up while she was crying and putting a piece of paper down beside her scared her a little, so she decided she wasn’t going to stick around in case they came back.   
There was nothing else for her to do but head home, and so she did.

A group of kids came out from one of the houses, all of them grumbling loudly. Stephanie thought they looked like a rather odd assortment. There was a chubby blond boy with a lollypop stick in his mouth and his pockets bulging with other sweets, a girl with pigtails with a slingshot shoved in her belt loop, a dark skinned boy with brightly dyed hair and big headphones, a pale boy wearing a bright green beanie and a boy dressed in an expensive looking vest with his hair over gelled to one side.

“Hello,” she said. The kids stopped grumbling and looked over at her.

“Did you mess with the cable?” the girl asked, her hand slipping to her slingshot.

“Calm down, Trixie.” the boy with bright hair said “I’ll fix it in just a couple of seconds.”

“Who are you?” the boy in the hat asked.

“I’m Stephanie,” she said, “I’m new in town. What are your names?”

“I’m Pixel,” the bright haired boy said as he worked on a small box on the outside of the house. He was adjusting wires when suddenly it sparked. He pulled away

“Hey, Stephanie, you didn’t, uh, mess with this, did you?” he asked. Stephanie shook her head. Pixel shook his head and went back to his work.

“My name is Stingy,” he said with a sniff, “You’ll find that everything is mine, or at least should be. My father is the wealthiest man in Lazytown, so if I want something of yours, I will get it.” he narrowed his eyes and glanced at Stephanie’s clothes. He sniffed.

“Oh, my name’s Ziggy!” The younger boy exclaimed, “My favorite food is anything with sugar, and I want to be a superhero!”

The boy wearing the green beanie just raised a hand.

“Jives.” he said.

“It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.” Stephanie said, although she wasn’t convinced that it really was a pleasure, “Would you like to play with me?” She held up the ball.

“Play? Yeah right.” Trixie sniffed, “No one plays here. We’re just waiting for the tv to work again.”

“Trixie, I, uh, don’t think that’s going to happen. The wires all seemed fried. This will take some time to get running again. You guys can go play with Stephanie if you want. I’ll just stay here and fix this.” Pixel said.

“I know lots of games.” Stephanie assured them, hefting up her football. Jives shrugged.

“It sounds like fun.” he said.

“But we’ll get tired and sweaty!” Stingy protested, “Couldn’t we just sit here and wait for Pixel to finish?”

“Well, if you want to sit there and be bored, I suppose that’s your choice. I’m going to go and have fun.” Stephanie said. Jives, Trixie and Ziggy followed her, and Stingy reluctantly came with them. 

Stephanie quickly taught them the basics of how to play football, and they picked the skills up quickly. Pixel eventually discarded his work to play with them instead.

Suddenly, Stephanie felt a shiver go down her spine. A shadow casted over their game, and the other children froze. Stephanie turned around and a thin, tall man staring down at her with cold eyes. Everything about him seemed off. Maybe it was how he stood crooked, or that his chin was just a bit too big, his hair too black, his eyes too soulless, but something was terribly wrong with this man, if you could call him that.

“And what are we doing here?” the man asked. Ziggy was shaking.

“We were just playing.” Ziggy said.

“Playing?” The man hissed. Stephanie crossed her arms and looked the man in the eyes with all the defiance she could muster.

“Playing.” she said, “And you aren’t going to stop us.” The man raised an eyebrow.

“Who says anything about stopping you? I just couldn’t help but notice that the cable box to techno-boy over there was broken. I can fix it for you.”

“You can?” Stingy said. The man nodded.

“Then you can stop playing and go back to your tv watching. I wouldn’t want you to miss anything important. In return, I want that football.” he said.

Trixie was holding the ball, and everyone was staring at her. She looked at the black and white ball, and handed it over to the man.

“There you go, Robbie, now fix our TV.” she said. The man, Robbie, held the ball in his fingers and pressed down hard. The ball popped loudly. The kids gasped.

“It’s already taken care of. Now, remember what happens when you play; Things break. I wouldn’t want any of you to share the same fate as that ball.” he said, dropping the remains of the ball on the ground and walking away.

“Trixie, how could you just give him the ball?” Pixel demanded. Trixie shrugged.

“I didn’t know he would break it.” she said with a shrug.

“Well, now Stephanie’s upset.” Ziggy said. Stephanie was kneeling beside her ball and holding back tears. This was the last memory of her friends from England, and now it lay broken, just like her life. Everything was falling apart.

The other kids stared at her and no one said a word. Stephanie couldn’t stand it. She grabbed the remains of her ball and ran off, not knowing where she was going. She didn’t see the crack in the broken cement. Stephanie tried to catch herself, but only made things worse. She was about to fall against the crumbling wall when two strong arms caught her and held her steady.

Stephanie looked up. Her savior was a man dressed in blue with a thin black moustache.  
“Be more careful next time, okay?” he said in a thick accent, patting her back and giving her a wide grin.

“Thank you.” Stephanie said, “You saved me. Who are you?”

“My name is Sportacus.” the man said. “Sometimes I am called 10. Did you get my letter?”

Stephanie felt the paper in her pocket.

“How-” she began. He touched a device on his chest.

“This tells me when someone is in trouble. It told me that someone was hurt, so I gave that letter to the wind, asking for it to deliver it to the person who needed me. I followed that letter, until it led me to you. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Stephanie looked at the deflated ball in her hands. Sportacus reached down and took it from her, examining it.

“What happened?” he asked, “This isn’t how footballs should be treated.”

“This man came and broke it so that the other kids would go back to watching television.” Stephanie said.

“Then let’s see if I can fix that. I love play-” he began, but then a device on his chest started to beep.

“Someone’s in trouble,” he said, “Sorry Stephanie, I hope you don’t mind waiting.” He lept off, flipping as he went. Stephanie followed close behind.

Ziggy was stuck in a tree. The other kids were surrounding him.

“It’s not worth it Ziggy, just come down from there!” Trixie shouted at him.

“But there’s the ball you tossed up here last week! We need to get it for Stephanie!” he said. He moved further up the tree. It was clear to see he was shaking, even from down below. Ziggy reached for the next branch and missed. He lost his balance and fell- right into the arms of Sportacus.

“Are you alright?” Sportacus asked him. The kids stared at this new hero, amazed. Stephanie finally reached them.

“Sportacus, what happened?” Stephanie asked.

“Your friend here fell.” Sportacus said, putting Ziggy back down.

“Are you some sort of superhero?” Ziggy asked.

“No, I’m just a slightly above average hero.” Sportacus said. “What were you doing in that tree?”

“I was trying to get that football for Stephanie, since Robbie broke her other one.” he said. Sportacus looked up in the tree and saw the ball. He lept up, caught a branch, and nimbly climbed the tree to grab the ball and toss it down to the children before dropping down himself.

“Thank you Sportacus.” Stephanies said, “Will you stay and play with us?”

That was the first day in a long time that the children of Lazytown chose to play outside rather than watch television. It was also the first day in a long time that Stephanie felt happy.

Sportacus promised to return whenever he could, whether to play games or to help people of the town in need. It was the beginning of something magical being brought back to Lazytown, and back into Stephanie’s life.

If only Stephanie could resist the urge to explore.


	2. The Need to Explore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie is determined to find elves, but it seems like any time she tries to leave Lazytown, Sportacus appears. However, determination gives way and Stephanie leaves town. She is forced to confront Sportacus, only to confront something else entirely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Candles are a popular tradition in Iceland to give to the huldufolk on January 6th, in hopes that the huldufolk find their way during their travels, and is one of the only explicitly stated and widely known tradition of gifts for elves, which is why Stephanie includes those in her pack. Other gifts, while are not too common in Iceland, but are traditional gifts for the fae include Cream (Especially in the case of Brownies) Baked goods, produce, stones, and crafts. Some were given in place of the fairies or trolls taking a child, while others were given as bribes for good fortune in the future.

Stephanie had spent the whole summer in Lazytown. She knew just about everything there was to know about the town. She had explored the Lazytown castle, discovered the missing part of the Lazytown stone, and planted a garden, all in one summer! She was part of so many new clubs with her five new friends in Lazytown that she couldn’t keep track of who was president of the clubs anymore ( A safe response would be ‘Stingy’ because he said all the clubs were his anyway). School had started, and she still hadn’t explored the outside of Lazytown. There were beautiful mountains and woods just a few kilometers away, and she hadn’t bothered to explore them yet. 

And how could she? Anytime she tried, Sportacus would show up and want to teach the kids a new trick or game. Not that she minded; she loved having Sportacus around, but she never got the chance to see if the woman on the plane was right. Were there hidden folk in Iceland?

She packed up her backpack with everything she needed. She had survival skills, like snacks, a whistle, a small knife, and a rope, but she also packed gifts for the huldufolk if she found them. She had a thermos filled with cream, candles, and food to give them. With her bright pink pack, she felt she was ready. 

Although they were her friends, she didn’t want to share her experience with any of the other kids. She didn’t tell them what she was doing. This was her experience to have on her own.   
Stephanie was nearing the gates of town when Sportacus suddenly jumped down from his ship. 

“Hello, Stephanie. What are you doing?” he asked. How much should she tell him? Could she trust him when he always seemed to stop her before she made it out of town. 

“Oh, I’m just going on a walk on the outside of town. I’m trying to be healthy, like you taught me.” she said. 

“That’s great, Stephanie! Although, I could use your help with something, before you do that.” he said. Stephanie was torn- Sportacus rarely asked for help. She would do anything to help him- if it was under any other circumstances. 

“As much as I would like to, I really want to get this walk in before it gets dark. I’m sure Ziggy would love to help you, though.” she said. Sportacus put his hands on her shoulder. 

“Stephanie, it’s very dangerous out there. I don’t want you to get hurt.” he said. 

“I won’t. I’m not going to go far!” she said. Sportacus didn’t look convinced, but Stephanie was so determined. She was going to search those mountains and forests, and Sportacus wasn’t going to stop her.

“Stephanie, does your uncle know about this?” Sportacus asked. Stephanie quickly thought up a plan. 

“He probably wouldn’t want me going outside of town, would he?” she said with a sigh, “You’re right, Sportacus. How about we all play basketball? You should go get the kids, and I’ll go get my basketball! And after that, we can all help you out!” 

Sportacus beamed. 

“That’s a great idea, Stephanie!” he said, and he flipped off. Stephanie waited until he was out of sight before she bolted out of town. 

She ran as fast as her legs could take her. She only had a few minutes before Sportacus would realize he had been tricked and try to come after her. She wanted to make sure she wouldn’t be found by the time he did.   
Her heart was beating faster than it ever had before, and her backpack thumped against her back with a heavy thud. She was beginning to regret bringing the book of icelandic folktales from the Lazytown library. 

The treeline was just ahead. She was only a few meters away from it when she felt a sharp tug against her backpack strap which lifted her up. 

“What are you doing?” Sportacus scolded her. He had caught her! She slipped out of the backpack straps and sprinted into the trees, hoping that maybe he would get lost in the trees. 

When she reached the trees, she immediately tripped on a tree root and got a faceful of cold dirt. Sportacus went over and tried to help her up, but she pushed him away. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes and she turned away from Sportacus. 

“Stephanie, are you okay?” he asked. She sniffed. 

“I just got dirt in my eye.” she said with a huff, trying to wipe any signs of tears away. He knelt down to where she sat and started to unzip her backpack. She felt her face get hot, but she didn’t want to give Sportacus the satisfaction of her reacting. 

“Stephanie, what is all of this?” he asked her, holding up the candles and the book. She bit her lip, not wanting to give up what was left of her poorly battered pride. Sportacus just held up more items and raised his eyebrows in question to her. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” she said. 

“Talk about what?” he moved to sit on even level with her. 

“My-my bag.” she said. 

“Then talk to me about what you’re doing out here.” Sportacus said. 

“I don’t want to talk about that either.” she said. 

“Then tell me about why you lied to me.” he said. Stephanie hid her face in her knees. 

“Because you were trying to stop me.” she said. 

“And I am stopping you from what, exactly?” 

Stephanie stayed silent for a while. Sportacus didn’t try to pressure her with any more questions. He just waited intently for her to talk, giving her all of his attention as if her silence was the most important thing she could say. It was weird seeing this energetic hero stay still for so long, and yet he did. Finally she spoke. 

“I thought- I thought if I could find them, they could help me.” Stephanie said,   
“I heard that there was magic in Iceland, like elves and stuff, and they could help fix broken things. I wanted to try and find them, and maybe…. they could fix my family.” Stephanie’s voice caught. A sob rose to her throat. Sportacus put a comforting arm around her as she curled up to her knees and started sobbing.   
Stephanie didn’t cry much about the news that her parents were divorcing. She cried a little when she got to Lazytown, but she didn’t really let all of her emotions out. All of that shoving it aside and trying to tuck it away finally came to the surface. 

Sportacus didn’t say anything. He just sat there with his arm around her, because what else could you do when a nine year old was dealing with grief? This child was dealing with far more than she should. She leaned into him, and he held her tighter. She put her arms around him. 

“Thank you, Sportacus.” she choked out. She finally drew away from him. 

“I think I needed that.” she said, giving a little laugh through all of the tears. Sportacus gave her a gentle smile. He looked down at his hands. 

“So, you wanted to search for elves?” he asked. She nodded, giving another small laugh. Her eyes were red and her face was blotchy, but at least the tears were drying up. 

“Do you mind if I give you a little bit of help?” He asked. Stephanie shook her head- she didn’t mind that at all. He took off his cap and put it on Stephanie, although it covered her eyes a little. She laughed and pushed it up so she could see.... And stopped immediately when she saw Sportacus’ pointed ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On a completely different note, Sportacus is dad goals. I remember at times when I was upset, my father would just hold me while I cried, and i wanted to find a way to express that feel in Stephanie and Sportacus's relationship. Stephanie was bound to break at one point with the news of the relationship, and It's something I just didn't see happening with her friends.


	3. The Athletic Elf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sportacus takes Stephanie to an elven village, where she learns more than she wanted to about the history of her favorite superhero and his father.

“You’re an elf!” Stephanie shouted, “Elves are real! YOU’RE AN ELF!” 

Sportacus just started laughing. Stephanie grabbed the folktale book and smacked him with it, but he kept laughing. She dropped the book and grabbed his ears and pulled on them. He winced a little and grabbed her hands to pull them away. 

“Yes, I am an elf.” he said, “Now, don’t pull my ears like that. It hurts!” he grinned at Stephanie and made his ears wiggle a little. She smiled and laughed a little. 

“Are there more elves?” Stephanie asked. Sportacus nodded. 

“Yes there are. There’s a village right by here.” he said.

“Is that why you tried to stop me from exploring?” she asked. 

“That is one of many reasons, Stephanie. It really is dangerous out here, and I don’t want you to get hurt. Just like there are elves, there are also trolls, ranging from the great Jotunns to the tricksters that disguise themselves as human and do very cruel things. These are the wild parts of Iceland, full of mysteries and legends come to life, and most of them are not kind to little girls. What if you ran into an ogre or witch who wanted to eat you? I don’t want to lose you, Stephanie.” Sportacus said. She sulked a little. 

“I didn’t know.” she said. 

“That’s okay, as long as you understand now why you can’t leave Lazytown on your own. Most humans don’t understand or believe in the huldufolk, so I didn’t know how else to tell you it was dangerous. I should have just told you in the first place.” 

“You said I couldn’t go out on my own, right?” Stephanie asked and Sportacus nodded, “Well, since you’re out here with me, can we explore?” she asked. 

“I don’t see why not, but if my crystal goes off, we have to leave together. Understood?” Stephanie nodded. 

“How about we start with the Elf village?” Stephanie asked, “I heard elves love dancing!” 

“I will take you there, but you have to promise not to tell anyone about them. Do you promise?” Sportacus asked. Stephanie made an ‘x’ motion over her heart.   
Sportacus took her hand and led her through some trees. After a few minutes he finally stopped and gestured to several large trees and rocks beside a steep hill. 

“But I don’t see anything.” Stephanie said. 

“Then look harder.” Stephanie blinked twice, rubbed her eyes, and then tried to squint. She still didn’t see anything. Sportacus knelt beside her and pointed at a large boulder. 

“That is not a rock.” he said, “That is a little house. Don’t you see the door and the roof? Imagine that they are there.” Stephanie closed her eyes as Sportacus described all the different houses made from rocks and trees. She could almost picture eyes staring at her from small windows inside the houses and from the tree leaves. It was so exciting! It’s like a whole new world was unfolding in front of her! 

Her daydream was interrupted by a loud, high pitched voice. 

“SPORT-A-CUS!” it yelled. Stephanies eyes snapped open, and a short woman with a long blond braid, dressed in what looked like to stephanie some sort of medieval clothing came right up to them. Sportacus took a step back. 

“Sportacus, you’ve been gone for months! I thought you said you’d visit more often, and you’re never here. You know you have obligations to us, too” the woman said, her pointed ears twitching in frustration. She glared at Sportacus for a moment, and then through her arms open wide. Sportacus grinned and ran to her, picking her up in his tight embrace. 

“I’m sorry, Alfifa, things have been busy for me.” he said, putting her down. Alfifa looked over at Stephanie. 

“And who is your friend?” Alfifa asked. 

“My name’s Stephanie.” Stephanie said, “Sportacus keeps saving me and my friends.” 

“He saves a lot of people.” Alfifa agreed with a sigh, “Now, I’m certain you would like to meet more elves, otherwise Sportacus wouldn’t have brought you here.” 

Stephanie nodded. There was a rustling, and more shorter, pointy eared folk stepped out into view. They all wore loose undershirts, while the women wore them with a bright colored bodice and a long, stiff skirt, the men wore open vests and loose, flowing pants. Stephanie looked at all of them with amazement. 

“Welcome back, Sportacus.” Alfifa said, smiling at her friend. “Now tell me, when was the last time you ate something besides your ‘sportscandy?” she asked. 

“I had a sandwich just the other day.” Sportacus said. Alfifa raised an eyebrow. 

“Did it have anything more than just a couple of apple slices and a piece of lettuce?” she asked. Sportacus said nothing and refused to look her in the eye.   
A younger elf came and tugged on Alfifa’s skirt. 

“Does this mean we will have a feast?” the young girl asked. Alfifa shot a playful glare at Sportacus, and then smiled at Stephanie. 

“I suppose it does, since we have such wonderful guests.” ******

Sportacus stayed outside and was teaching the younger elves how to do flips while Stephanie went inside one of the elf houses with Alfifa. Stephanie was hoping for something magical, like colorful tapestries and fairy lights dangling from the ceiling, but she was disappointed when all she saw was a few threadbare mats on the floor and a couple of stools. Alfifa noticed the young girl’s disappointment. 

“I know, it’s a little… underwhelming.” Alfifa said, “But, on the bright side, we have a fully stocked kitchen, and our gardens never wilt. Eventually I hope to turn this home into something beautiful, if we elves can stop traveling.” Alfifa lead Stephanie to a different room which had a pump and basin, a fireplace, a table, and copper pots on a wooden rack. Alfifa took one of the pots down and filled it with water from the pump and then placed it by the fireplace to grow hot. She went to a small pantry and grabbed a knife and several vegetables and gave them to Stephanie to cut while she began to cut a dried fish. 

“Why do you have to move so much?” Stephanie asked. 

“Iceland is very dangerous for our kind right now. We are hunted by both evil men and trolls. We can’t risk staying in one place for too long.” 

“And does Sportacus protect you? This is his village, isn’t it?” Stephanie asked. 

“He does, but this village was always his father’s, not his. He was forced into it, so to speak.” 

“Sportacus has a father?” Stephanie asked. 

“Of course he does! Everyone has a father- don’t you?” Alfifa laughed. Stephanie looked down. 

“I don’t anymore.” she said sadly. 

“I’m certain that Sportacus would more than willingly fill that position. He has all the potential to be a great father. He’s done a great job helping with my two little ones after my husband was killed.” Alfifa said. 

“I’m so sorry!” Stephanie said, “How did he die, may I ask?” 

“He was killed three years ago after a pack of trolls had found us. He stayed behind while the rest of us got away.” Alfifa explained. 

“Where was Sportacus?” Stephanie asked. 

“There was a small house where the children were taking their lessons at the time of the attack. The trolls set fire to it, and Sportacus made sure they all got out and back to their parents.” 

“Oh.” Stephanie was starting to regret asking so many questions, but more just seemed to spill out, “Why is this only Sportacus’s father’s village?” 

“Sportacus’s father, known as ‘The Athletic elf”, or Íþróttaálfurinn, left our village many years ago to help humans. He was a great leader in our town, and was sorely missed when he left for good on an airship. We didn’t know what happened to him until after... “ Alfifa trailed off, looking brokenhearted. Stephanie waited patiently, watching the elven woman intently. Alfifa swallowed hard. “.....After the village had been enslaved. We were forced to work in the mines day after day, being fed on sugar, which kept us complacent and enthralled. One day, the taskmaster brought down a boy who didn’t quite look elvish, but also didn’t look quite human, saying his name was Sportacus. Even though he wasn’t a full blooded elf, we all knew exactly who his father was. He helped us all escape, like his father would have. We don’t know what happened to the Athletic Elf, we only know that Sportacus refuses to talk about it.” 

“I-I’m so sorry” Stephanie said. Alfifa gave her a sad smile. 

“At least we have Sportacus now, whenever he decides to visit. You will come back here, won’t you?” she asked. Stephanie nodded. 

“I love making new friends, and I heard that elves love to dance. Could you teach me any new dances?” she asked. 

“Of course! My little Gia and Sigurd love teaching dances.” Alfifa tossed the food into the pot, and as it cooked she led Stephanie outside to dance.


	4. A Game of Trolls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie convinces Alfifa's kids, Sigurd and Gia, to come to Lazytown to meet her friends there. If they cover their ears, that doesn't break her promise to Sportacus, does it?

The elven dances were fast paced and wild. Some were done in lines, and others were in circles, and many required partners. Sometimes Stephanie was even paired up with another girl when a male elf stepped out. Tables were set up around the dancing, and food was brought out. There were fresh breads, stews, pies, seafood, and this strange, cheese like food called skyr which was topped with berries and honey. 

Stephanie and Sportacus had just finished doing a partner dance called the ‘loom weave’ (a line dance where the first couple ‘weaves’ in and out of both the male and female lines) when Alfifa came up with a full plate and forced it into Sportacus’s hand. 

“You, sir, will eat this.” she said. Sportacus looked at it with concern. 

“Where is the fresh sportscandy?” he asked. 

“You may have some after you finish this plate.” she said. Sportacus’s ears drooped and he walked off with the plate. Alfifa turned to Stephanie. 

“Now, I don’t think you need to be goaded into trying something more than just apples. Go with Gia, and she will tell you what tastes the best.” she said. Gia bounced up and took Stephanie’s hand, leading her to the food. 

Stephanie noticed that there wasn’t a lot of sweet foods on the table. 

“Sugar is very risky for elves. It can make us sick, or we can become compelled to help the person who gave it to us. We try to avoid it if we can.” Gia explained. 

“Have you ever wanted to go into human society?” Stephanie asked. Gia shook her head. 

“We also can’t touch iron- Sportacus is the only elf I know that can touch it.” 

“Lazytown doesn’t have a lot of iron in it.” Stephanie said, “Would you want to come and visit?” 

“But- what if someone sees my ears?” Gia asked. 

“Sportacus wears a hat, and no one knows that he’s an elf.” 

“Mom would never let me go.” Gia said. Sigurd came up to them, scarfing down what looked like a dried fish. 

“What are you talking about?” he asked. 

“You and Gia should visit Lazytown.” Stephanie said, “I’m sure we’d have lots of fun games, and I know you’d get along with my friends there!” Sigurd wrinkled his nose. 

“It would be difficult, but I think we could sneak past mother.” 

“That would be great! I don’t have school next Saturday, which is only a week from now.” Stephanie said, “all my friends would be there too.”

“I’ve always wanted to explore a human town.” he laughed. 

“What about trolls?” Gia gasped, “We could get caught and eaten!” 

Sigurd just puffed out his chest. 

“Well, I’ve been doing pushups like Sportacus told me too, and I’ve been eating Sportscandy, so if any troll should try to get in our way, I’d strike them down!” 

Gia giggled at her brother. 

“What are you kids talking about?” Sportacus asked, biting into an apple.

“How mother is the only that can force you to do something you don’t like.” Gia said, “I heard grown ups like that always get married in the human world.” 

Sportacus laughed and shook his head. 

“No, not all humans are like that” he said. 

“We’ll see for ourselves.” Gia said, before her brother covered over her mouth with his hand. Sportacus’ eyebrows shot up.

“What she means, is she’s getting me to read some of the books you brought us. There’s so much about human culture, we keep learning more and more.” he said. Gia responded to being muffled by licking her older brother’s hand. Stephanie laughed- elves and humans really weren’t any different from each other. 

“Gia, why don’t you ask Sportacus for a dance while I talk with Stephanie?” Sigurd asked. Gia gleefully grabbed Sportacus’s hand and dragged him into a dance with her, where she promptly stood on his toes.

“Meet me on the edge of the forest Saturday morning, and I’ll give you clothes and hats to change into, and then I’ll take you into town.” Stephanie whispered, and they finished up their planning. 

It wasn’t long afterwards that Sportacus told Stephanie they needed to leave before it got dark. While Stephanie was disappointed about leaving, she was giddy about introducing her new friends to her old ones. She could hardly wait!  
**************************************************************************

“What’s wrong with their clothes?” Trixie asked, looking over Sigurd and Gia. Sigurd was wearing an oversized t-shirt tucked into a pair of ripped jeans Jives had thrown away the week before, and a baseball cap to cover his ears. Gia was dressed in one of Stephanie’s old tutus from when she was six (Milford had kept it since her last visit three years previous) and a bright pink beanie. 

“What’s wrong with yours?” Sigurd snapped back. Trixie smirked, but didn’t say anything more.

“Where are they from?” Pixel asked. Stephanie hadn’t thought of that. 

“Well, they come from, uh, all the way from somewhere else!” she said. Pixel crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

Ziggy went up to Gia, since he wasn’t used to seeing kids his age, and looked at her tutu. He grinned and held up his cape. 

“I like to dress up, too.” he said, “I want to be a superhero when I grow up. Do you wanna be a ballerina?” 

Gia looked a little confused, since she had no idea what a ‘Ballerina’ was, but she nodded anyways. Stephanie laughed at the little exchange. 

“Do you wanna lick of my lollipop?” Ziggy asked. Gai looked horrified and stepped away. Ziggy looked hurt and confused. Stephanie stepped in before there was too much trouble.

“Ziggy, Gia and Sigurd are both allergic to sugar. If you give it to them, they’ll get very sick.” she said. Ziggy’s smile returned. 

“That just means more for me!” he said, sticking the whole lollipop in his mouth. 

“Oh, you’re going to love some of the gadgets I have!” Pixel said, showing his flashing watch to Gia and Sigurd, who both paled at the sight. 

“That’s an awful lot of Iron and Steel, isn’t it?” Sigurd asked. 

“Yup, so you don’t need to worry about breaking it, so go ahead. You can touch it.” he said. Sigurd stared at Stephanie with his wide eyes begging for help. 

“They, uh, got electrocuted once, so they’re scared of technology.” Stephanie said. 

“Scared of technology? I’ve never heard of anyone like that before!” Pixel said in disbelief. 

“Allergic to sugar and scared of technology? You guys are weird!” Trixie said. 

“At least I’m not the one with three pigtails in her hair.” Sigurd said, “If you ask me, that’s what’s really weird here.” 

Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief. They seemed like they were fitting in, for the most part. She was about to suggest they start playing when she noticed a few people missing.

“Where is Stingy and Jives?” Stephanie asked. 

“Oh, Stingy has decided that all beanies are his, so he’s trying to take Jives’.” Ziggy said over his mouth full of lollipop. Stephanie rolled her eyes. That was just like Stingy. 

“Are we going to play?” Gia asked, twirling around in her tutu, “I want to play a princess.” 

Sigurd smacked the back of his sister’s head. 

“You can’t play a princess, because princesses get stolen by trolls.” he said. 

“Trolls?” Trixie snorted, “And I thought Pinkie’s fantasy dragon stories were bad.”

“Then you get to play the troll.” Sigurd said, “Since you insist on acting like one. I don’t want Gia to be a princess, so how about you get captured by trolls, Stephanie? Then Pixel, Ziggy and I can save you.” 

“But what do I do?” Gia asked. 

“You can be a troll with me, Tiny.” Trixie said. 

“But I want to be a princess.” Gia protested. 

“You could be a troll princess!” Ziggy said, “You’d make a very pretty troll princess.” 

Gia grinned and twirled in her skirt once more, which was her way of agreeing to the idea. 

The boys all turned around while Gia and Trixie hid Stephanie somewhere in the town. 

“If the boys find out where we’re hiding, let’s challenge them to a game of soccer to see if they can defeat us and save Stephanie. Will you go and get one for us?” Trixie said. They were all hiding behind the old ice cream stand beside the park. Gia nodded and ran off, her tutu flouncing in the wind. Soon after she left, Jives came in and sat by them. His hair was a fluffy mess without his hat, and Stephanie couldn’t help but giggle with Trixie. 

“Did Stingy steal your hat?” Trixie asked. Jives just let out an exasperated sigh and nodded. 

“Oh no! do you know what this means, Trixie?” Stephanie asked, “It means we’re easy to find hiding here.” 

“You’re the princess, you’re not supposed to tell me where my troll cave should be.” Trixie said with a huff. 

There was suddenly screaming. Stephanie, Jives, and Trixie lept to their feet and sprinted towards the noise. 

Stingy was holding Gia’s beanie and was staring at Gia with wide eyes while Gia was crying and covering her ears with her hands. Sigurd ran up with Pixel and Ziggy, and when he saw what happened he lunged at Stingy, trying to get the beanie from his hands. In the scuffle, the baseball hat fell off of Sigurds head, exposing his distinctly pointed ears. 

“Woah, those aren’t normal!” Jives said. Sigurd turned bright red and stared at his feet. Gia uncovered her ears and buried her face in her hands. 

“What happened to with your ears?” Trixie asked, taking a step closer to Sigurd. 

“They’re so cool! I want my ears to be like that.” Sigurd looked up at her and smiled. 

“Really?” he asked. Trixie nodded enthusiastically. 

“Is this also a trait from ‘somewhere else’, just like being allergic to sugar?” Pixel asked. “Stephanie, what’s the truth?” 

Stephanie bit her lip. This isn’t how she wanted today to go. She just wanted to spend time with her friends. Before she answered, a familiar voice cut through the uncomfortable silence. 

“What is wrong with you brats?” Robbie asked. He put his hands on his hips and glared at each of the kids, until his eyes reached Sigurd and Gia. His lips curled into a smile. 

“And who are these two?” he asked. Stephanie felt a little sick inside. She stood between them and Robbie. 

“They are friends of mine.” she said. 

“They have such interesting ears.” Robbie said, “May I take a closer look?” Stephanie narrowed her eyes. 

“No.” she said. Robbie’s smile widened. 

“Are you hiding them for a reason?” he asked. That icky feeling in Stephanie’s stomache got worse. She knew she had to lie. 

“Their makeup isn’t dry yet.” she said. Robbie’s smile faltered. 

“What?” he asked. 

“I love the stories about elves in Iceland, so I got my two friends to let me experiment with elf makeup. If you look closer, you’re going to touch them and ruin them. Please just go away.” Stephanie said. 

“Elf makeup, you say?” he said. He leaned in close and whispered in Stephanie’s ear so only she could hear. 

“I know the difference between makeup and reality.” he said, staring at Sigurd and Gia. He straightened back up right as Sportacus dropped down from the sky, his crystal beeping like an angry hornet. 

“Is someone in trouble?” he asked. 

“Oh, I think you will find there won’t be trouble in Lazytown very soon.” Robbie said, “Good day to you all.” He waved and sauntered away. Sportacus looked taken aback, until he saw Gia and Sigurd cowering behind Stephanie. The rest of the kids saw the look on Sportacus’ face and scattered. 

“Looks to me like there are three people about to get in a lot of trouble.” he said, looking down at the three of them. “What were you thinking?” The kids started to mumble something and Sportacus raised a hand to stop them. 

“No, I don’t want to hear it right now.” He went over and grabbed Gia and Sigurd by the ears. “You are going back to your mother immediately and explain everything to her. LADDER!” 

The rope ladder came tumbling down and Sportacus made the two climb it ahead of him so he could watch and make sure they went inside. As Sportacus started to climb after them, he turned back to Stephanie. 

“I will take care of you when I get back.” he said. He looked so disappointed in her that Stephanie wanted to curl up and die then and there. If only Sportacus was the worst of her troubles.


	5. A broken promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie's friends agree to keep the elves a secret. Sportacus makes a deal with Stephanie that if she tries to befriend Robbie, he will try to convince Alfifa to let her children come to Stephanie's tenth birthday party. Robbie acts very suspiciously when Stephanie tells him that there's a whole elf village that they need to protect.

“Alright, Pinkie,you get to tell us the truth now” Trixie said. Her friends had surrounded her immediately after Sportacus left, and Stephanie was nervous.   
“What do you mean?” Stephanie tried to lie, but it didn’t look like she had anyone convinced.   
“Those ‘kids’ had pointed ears. That’s not normal!” Pixel said.”And don’t give us that lie about them having health problems.   
Stephanie was at a loss. She took a deep breath and told them about the Icelandic Huldufolk. She didn’t mention how there was a village only a few kilometers out from town or how Sportacus was half elf. She talked about meeting the elves in the forest and convincing Gia and Sigurd to come to Lazytown.   
“Well, why didn’t you tell us in the first place?” Ziggy asked, “Don’t you trust us?”   
“When Sportacus found out I knew about the elves he made me promise to keep them secret in case anything bad happened to them.”  
“How does Sportacus know anything about elves?” Stingy demanded.   
“He helps everyone, including the elves!” Stephanie said, “And if he wants to protect them by keeping them secret, then he has every right to do so.”   
“No wonder Sportacus seemed upset with you.” Trixie said. Pixel glared at her.   
“Trixie, that’s not the point! We know the secret now, so it’s our job to protect them, too.” he said.   
“Maybe if we can prove that humans can be trusted, there wouldn’t be as great a need to hide elves.” Jives said.   
“Maybe- Maybe Gia can come back and play if we’re really good at keeping secrets!” Ziggy suggested. Stephanie nodded- maybe they could. Maybe everything would be okay.   
“I want to face Sportacus on my own.” she told them, “Maybe I could convince him to let them come back.” she said.   
Stephanie waited in the playground for Sportacus to come back, and she asked that she be alone while she wait. She had been waiting for over an hour by the time Sportacus’ ship came into view. Sportacus came down and sat down on the swing beside Stephanie. They swung together in silence for several minutes.   
“Are you going to scold me or not?” Stephanie finally asked.   
“You broke your promise and put a whole community in danger.” he said “What can I say that will make you understand that?”   
“I’m sorry da-” she cut herself off before she finished that word. Sportacus raised an eyebrow.   
“Were you going to call me dad?” he asked.  
“It just slipped out.” Stephanie said. “It doesn’t mean anything!” In truth, she had been missing her dad for a long time before the divorce. He hadn’t been her father for over a year, but Sportacus made her feel like she had a father again.   
“Will I be able to see Gia or Sigurd again soon?” she asked quietly after a few moments of silence.  
“I don’t know. It will take some time before the elves can trust you again. You could have put them in great danger.” Sportacus said.  
“Sportacus, my birthday is only in a couple of weeks! Do you think they could forgive me by then? Everyone who saw them promised to keep it a secret, so Gia and Sigurd could come to the party.” Stephanie paused, “Oh no! Robbie saw them too!”   
Sportacus smiled.  
“I don’t think you have anything to fear from Robbie. His heart is in the right place, even though his mind isn’t. He is a good man, no matter how much he tries to fight it.” he said. “You have nothing to fear from him.”   
“And what if I do?” she asked. Regardless of how confident Sportacus was about it, she still doubted the goodness within Robbie.   
“Maybe you need to get to know him better. Why don’t you invite him to your birthday?”   
Stephanie wrinkled her nose. That idea didn’t appeal to her too much.   
“Can I do it tomorrow?” she said. “It’s almost dinnertime.”   
“Of course, Stephanie. I will see what I can do to convince Alfifa to let her kids come to your party.” he said.   
The next day, Stephanie marched out to Robbie’s house entrance and pounded on the door. There was a cacophony of loud noises and crashing as Robbie scrambled up and opened the hatch.   
“YOU?!” he said, “What are you doing here at this ungodly hour?”   
“It’s ten in the morning!” Stephanie said.   
“As I said, ungodly hour.” Robbie sniffed.   
“We need to talk, Robbie.” she said, crossing her arms.   
“Uh, goodbye.” Robbie said, trying to close the hatch. Stephanie caught it right before it closed and shouted inside the crack.  
“I have candy if you listen.” she said. The hatch swung open again and Robbie looked at her with a twisted smile.   
“Go on.” he said. Stephanie fished in her pocket and pulled out an invitation along with a lollipop and handed it to him.   
“I’m inviting you to my birthday party, but you need to promise me something.” she said.   
“Will there be cake at this party?” Robbie interrupted her, “and not made from that sportscandy junk?”   
“Chocolate cake with raspberry cream filling.” Stephanie said. Robbie looked at the sky dreamily, and quickly shook himself out of it.  
“What do I need to promise you?” he narrowed his eyes.   
“You need to promise to keep the elves a secret. Sportacus says that anyone who knows puts their village in great danger.”   
“They have a village?” Robbie asked.  
“Yes, and it has to be our job to protect it.” Stephanie said.   
“About how many people are in this village... so I know how many people I’m helping.” Robbie asked. Stephanie crossed her arms.   
“Why don’t you ask Sportacus?” she said. “He knows more about it than I do.”   
“Sportacus protects this village? And he’s going to be at this party?” Robbie mused. He seemed to be deep in thought for a moment or two. He snapped out of it and turned to Stephanie.   
“I cannot come to your little bratty birthday. I have family matters to attend to.” Robbie said.   
Stephanie was puzzled. She didn’t know Robbie even had family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you're probably wondering why this is rated teen. It probably shouldn't be, but that's a precaution. So far things have been mild, and focused on world building and character structure. This story is about to take a huge turn.   
> Some Icelandic folk tales that will be included in future chapters and story arcs will be  
> East o' the sun, West o' the moon,  
> Prince Ring,  
> the Hans stories,  
> The Three robes,  
> Tatterhood,  
> and many more. If you want to read up on some of these folktales before being thrown in a world chock-full of snippets from these stories, a really good site I found was http://oaks.nvg.org/iceland-tales.html. If you prefer your stories in a physical form, I like reading from 59 norwegian folk tales by George Webbe Dasent.  
> You can look up these stories yourself by researching Norwegian, Icelandic, or Nordic folktales.   
> Thank you for reading and supporting my work. every time I see a new comment or Kudos I want to keep writing and making a good story for you guys.   
> Also, Please excuse my poor editing and erratic posting schedule. I would rather get a story out to you guys quickly and keep my college grades up than go through the painstaking editing process, although I do go through a few editing passes.   
> Thanks again!- Last of the Order


	6. The End of an Era

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie's birthday is finally here, but when Sportacus' crystal goes off and no one in Lazytown is in danger, she realizes that the elves are in trouble. When trying to save the elves, she puts herself and her friends in greater danger than they ever have before.  
> You're welcome.

The sun finally rose on Stephanie’s tenth birthday. She put on her favorite dress and brushed out her pink hair. Her roots would start showing soon- she had touched it up and trimmed it several times while in Iceland so it would stay the bright pink. Her mother had always loved her long brown hair, so Stephanie found great satisfaction every time she bleached and dyed it. Knowing that she could soon bleach, cut, and dye it again helped to fill the bitterness deep inside, knowing that she hadn’t even gotten a letter from either parents this year for her birthday.   
“Stephanie, are you ready for breakfast?” Milford asked. Stephanie gave her hair one final stroke and went across the hall to the kitchen, where her plate was piled high with pancakes and oranges. She ate them a little too hastily, because she wanted to find Sportacus and ask him about Gia and Sigurd.   
Sportacus happened to be running laps around the park. Stephanie tried to catch up, but didn’t even come close to matching his speed. He ended up running another lap, and then slowed down to match her pace.   
“Happy Birthday, Stephanie.” he said.   
“Thanks, Sportacus. Will Gia and Sigurd be able to come to the party today?” Stephanie asked. Sportacus was awful at lying. He avoided eye contact, and tried to keep a straight face, but it split into a smile.   
“I don’t know about Gia and Sigurd, but I do know that you will have very special visitors at your birthday party.” he said. Stephanie threw her arms around him, forcing them both to stop jogging. Sportacus laughed and ruffled her hair.   
““þakka þér, pabbi.” she whispered before she pulled away and skipped off. ******  
There was only a few minutes before the party would start. Stephanie was helping to set up with the rest of her friends. It was hard to ignore the pile of presents, but it was even harder to ignore the door, hoping for two other friends to walk through at any moment. Sportacus put a hand on her shoulder.   
“They’ll be here. Alfifa promised me.” he said.   
“But what if she changes her mind?” Stephanie said.   
“She won’t. She’s probably late because she has to avoid trolls.”   
“What’s going on with trolls?” Trixie asked, pulling out her slingshot, “I’ll strike them dead in the eyes. They won’t even know what hit em. They won’t touch any elves.”   
“Sportacandy the superhero will stop them and save the day!” Ziggy cried, nearly jumping on Sportacus, who ducked right in time. Sportacus shot Stephanie a look.   
“We are all part of the Elf Conservation Club.” Stephanie said. Jives went up and patted Sportacus on the back.   
“I found a gun.” he said and, giving no explanation, walked away. Stephanie hid her face in her hands while Sportacus stared at her.   
“It’s probably a water gun.” she said,”...We hope. This isn’t America, after all.”   
“I’m scared to ask what Pixel has planned.” Sportacus said, looking warily at the orange haired techno genius.   
“Stingy is the one you need to worry about, because he has a-” Stephanie stopped as Sportacus’ crystal beeped loudly. He jumped up and looked around in concern. No one at the party seemed to be in any danger. They all just stared at Sportacus’ beeping crystal. The color drained from Sportacus’ face. It could only mean one thing.  
Alfifa was in danger. By the time it registered to everyone, Sportacus had already left. Trixie turned to Stephanie.   
“We formed this club to protect elves, so if they are in danger, it’s our job to protect them.” Trixie said, “You’re the president, so you have to lead us onward.”   
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Stephanie said. She looked at her uncle, who hadn’t noticed because he was trying to talk to Ms. Busybody, and realized now would be her best chance.   
“Come on, Pinkie, you were the one who wanted to protect them!” Trixie said.   
“Trixie, give me your slingshot, and the belt with the ammo pouches. We can’t all leave, or the parents will notice and stop us. Jives, Stingy, follow me, Trixie, Pixel, and Ziggy, you guys need to stay here and cover for us. Say Stingy stole Jive’s hat again or something. Just cover for us”  
“But Stephanie, there’s not enough time for us to grab our weapons.” Stingy complained.   
“Good! Now come on!” she said. The sun had set over the clear skies, casting eerie shadows everywhere. Stephanie ran straight for the town gates, Stingy and Jives keeping pace beside her. After running through the field, they came to the forest. Stephanie didn’t hesitate as she burst in.   
“Stephanie! Wait! Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea!” Stingy called after her. Stephanie didn’t care. She was ready for anything Iceland could throw at her.   
She didn’t care that Stingy and Jives stopped following her; she didn’t really want them with her in the first place. This just made things simpler for her, she thought at she ran through the forest towards the village.   
The ground began to rumble. Stephanie stopped in her tracks and looked around while her hand reached for Trixie’s slingshot. There was a flash of movement. Stephanie stretched the band of the slingshot back and prepared to fire, only to lower it again when she realized what the movement was. Gia was running through the trees, tears streaming down her face. Stephanie ran to Gia.  
“What’s going on?” Stephanie asked.   
“There are Trolls!” Gia screamed, “Run!”   
Stephanie took Gia’s hand and ran with her, pulling her at a faster pace, but the rumbling only got closer.   
There was a flash of blue, and Gia was ripped from Stephanie’s hands. She looked up and saw that Sportacus was now running with Gia on his shoulders.   
“Stephanie, what are you doing here?” he asked.   
“I wanted to help the elves!” she said. Sportacus made a frustrated noise.  
“The best thing you can do right now is hide! We need to a red tree and get you two inside, quickly!” he said. He pointed to the distance, where there happened to be one, and they ran for it. When they got there, they realized that the first branch was too high for Stephanie to climb.   
“You go first, and then you can help Gia get up.” Sportacus said, putting Gia down and hoisting Stephanie up to the first branch. Stephanie scrambled up in time to see something come crashing through the trees. It was huge and grotesque, with a nose far too long, and teeth far too sharp. This must be a troll. Stephanie reached down to help Gia up, but Sportacus didn’t hoist the girl up. He just stared frantically between Stephanie and the creature.  
“Sportacus, give me Gia!” she said, although they both knew there wasn’t enough time to get both Stephanie and Gia to the hole in the tree.   
“Just go! Hide!” Sportacus said. Stephanie bit her lip, but climbed up anyways until she reached the hole in the tree and tumbled in. She scrambled around at the bottom of the tree until she found a small peephole to look through so she could see what was happening. Gia was curled up on the ground crying while the Troll swung a large metal chain around its head. Sportacus was trying to pick up Gia and telling her something in Icelandic. The Troll flung the chain at Sportacus, who lunged away to dodge it, but, as if guided by magic, it wrapped itself around the half elf, trapping him. The Troll laughed and picked up the crying Gia and popped her into a large basket on his back. The Troll then turned his attention to Sportacus.   
The chain moved like a living thing, twisting itself tighter around Sportacus the more he moved. The Troll picked up one of the ends of the chain and just dangled Sportacus in the air and laughed. Sportacus was saying something but was choked off by the chain around his throat. The Troll leaned over and sniffed Sportacus over with that enormous nose and recoiled in disgust. It cried out, enraged, and flung Sportacus to the ground. The Troll lifted up its foot and looked like it was about to crush Sportacus beneath it when a familiar voice started yelling at it. Stephanie’s heart fluttered with hope.   
Robbie Rotten ran into view and began scolding the troll. Stephanie didn’t hear much of it, and what she heard she didn’t understand.   
“ekki drepa þetta einn, það er mitt!” Robbie said. The Troll moved its foot away and lumbered, disappointed. Robbie knelt beside Sportacus, blocking him from Stephanie’s. She wondered how he was going to get that chain off when there was a sharp cry from Sportacus. Stephanie squinted to try to see what was going on. Robbie stood up and grabbed one end of the chain and began dragging Sportacus away. Sportacus was completely still with something white smeared across his mouth- Frosting!   
Robbie wasn’t helping them! He was helping the Trolls! Stephanie had to do something. She wanted to fire a rock from her slingshot at him, but the the peephole was too small. By the time Stephanie had climbed up to the hole she had fallen in, Robbie and Sportacus were long gone. The only things left were the trees and the stars.   
Stephanie let herself slump back into the tree and cried herself to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter went by so quickly! So here it is, the end of an era. Lazytown will no longer be the happy go lucky town it once was.   
> Also, translation note, What Stephanie whispers to Sportacus is "thank you, papa" because she really feels like he is her father at this point. You can translate Robbie's on your own.


	7. Escape from Normality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie wakes up and deals with the consequences of the night before. She and Trixie are reunited and decide to leave Lazytown for good unless they can find their friends again.

Stephanie woke up in a hollow tree, and all the memories from the night before came flooding back. She realized if she hadn’t of interfered, Gia would be safe. She felt broken, somehow. She climbed out of the tree and started heading home. As Stephanie got back to the town, she saw all the adults walking around. Trixie burst out from a crowd and ran to Stephanie.  
“Pinky! Where were you?” Trixie demanded, tears shining in her eyes.   
“I was in the forest- what happened here?” Stephanie asked.  
“Everyone’s gone!” Trixie said“I barely made it back! You were gone all night! Pixel, Ziggy and I searched after you and you were gone! The forest is a nightmare, Steph! Then there was this barrel, and it had candy at the bottom, and Ziggy tried to grab it and fell in, and suddenly he disappeared, and after he did these horrible monsters appeared! Pixel and I ran! I ran away like a coward. Pixel disappeared at some point, but i made it back and I’m the only one left!” Trixie was shaking with terror, “And these dumb adults won’t even go near the forest to look for them!”  
“Stephanie!” Milford yelled and ran to her. He seemed so panicked. Stephanie thought he was going to scold her, but he broke down sobbing instead, saying how he was so relieved that she was safe and sound.   
“We need to find Robbie. This is all his fault.”  
“Stephanie- every sign of robbie living here has disappeared” Trixie said, “There are no more tunnels or spyglasses, and his house is sealed up.”   
“But he has Sportacus! We have to look for him!” Stephanie protested. Milford’s hands came hard on their shoulders.   
“You will do no such thing! Children are missing, and I can’t let you disappear too. You two are officially under lock down. Stephanie shot a look at Trixie. They had to do something!   
Trixie winked at Stephanie in return.   
“Of course, lead the way!” Trixie said. Stephanie raised an eyebrow, but followed her friend’s lead. Milford took them to city hall and told them to take a seat.   
“I will be keeping an eye on you until the other kids are found.” he said.   
“Oh, thank you. I feel so much safer!” Trixie said, “But, I miss my doll…” She started to sniffle ,”Will you go and get it for me? My mom knows where it is.”   
Milford didn’t look convinced, until Trixie started bawling. Her tears were ugly and thick, and snot came out from her nose. It was quite horrifying. Milford quickly hurried out.   
“Stay right here, I won’t be gone for more than a minute!” he said.   
“Trixie, are you okay?” Stephanie asked. Trixie’s tears immediately dried up and she wiped her nose.   
“Of course I am, and now we have the chance to get out of here!” she said. The two girls ran out of City hall and snuck through the streets till they got to the edge of the town.  
“I don’t think there’s any going back after this.” Stephanie said, “We either save them, or we don’t return.”   
“I know.” Trixie said, biting her lip. She offered her hand to Stephanie, and Stephanie took it. Together the two girls stepped outside of the town and headed towards the forest.   
It was like a dark cloud had crept into the once bright and effervescent forest. The shadows became thicker and more nefarious.   
“So, Uh, Steph, what is the plan here?” Trixie asked.   
“We should go to the elf village and see if there are any clues left behind to where the trolls went. That’s gotta be where the elves and our friends were taken!”   
Stephanie took Trixie to where the village used to be. Trixie only saw wreckage at first, but Stephanie quickly pointed out the outlines of houses, just like Sportacus did for her.   
“There were really people living here? This place is a wreck!” Trixie exclaimed, looking at the gaping holes in the wrecked houses. Stephanie tried not to think too much about the once flourishing elf village and what it became. She busied herself by looking for tracks in the ground while Trixie raided for supplies.   
There was carnage everywhere, but Stephanie finally noticed path stamped out going North-East. She and Trixie struck out, weaving in and out of the broken trees, not knowing how long they would go for.   
“Hey, Pinky, we should take a break and eat something. I really could use some Sportscandy to get my energy up.” Trixie said. She went by a tree and began rifling through her pack when there was a loud pop. Suddenly a large net sprung up and trapped Trixie, dangling her from the tree’s branches.   
“Don’t worry Trixie, I’ll get you down!” Stephanie looked around frantically for the knot that held the net in place. She saw a piece of rope beside another tree, but before she got to it there was another loud pop and Stephanie was caught in another net.   
“Great job getting me down, Pinky” Trixie said.   
“Who puts two nets so close together?” Stephanie yelled back.  
“Steph, do you have a knife or something?” Trixie asked.   
“Don’t you have one? You were the one looking through the village for supplies.”   
“....No.” Trixie said.  
“What did you grab?” Stephanie asked.   
“Well, I have food. I figured that would go bad before the elves got back. I also found this cool bag to put them in.”   
“Please tell me you have more than that.” Stephanie groaned.  
“Look, Robbie wasn’t the greatest scout master in the world” Trixie said.   
“Sportacus offered to teach you!” Stephanie said.   
“I was too busy stealing Stingy’s piggybank and hiding it in a tree.”   
“Oh, sorry, I forgot that one among the thousands of other pranks you’ve pulled on us. Silly me.” Stephanie snapped.   
“Wow, being another year older sure has made you a grouch.”  
“Maybe that’s because all of my friends have gone missing in a troll infested forest, and I happen to be stuck with the meanest one who doesn’t know how to pack!” Stephanie said.   
“If you hate me so much, why do you keep talking to me?” Trixie spat. Stephanie crossed her arms and turned away. At least they weren’t in the same net together.   
They stayed dangling in the trees for over an hour. Stephanie had tried gnawing and pulling on the ropes, but they were thick and held fast. Trixie tried rubbing a carrot through her rope at one point, which only ended in a broken carrot and an even more pissed of Trixie. Evening was coming fast, and Stephanie was scared to see what the forest would become after dark.   
“Eh? What have we here? Both traps went off?” a crotchety voice came from beneath Stephanie. A sharp stick was suddenly poking her.   
“Hey!” she shouted, “Don’t do that!”   
“It talks!” the voice said, “It can’t be an elf, and it can’t be a human. I must have caught a troll!”   
“I’m not a troll!” Stephanie protested.   
“That’s debatable!” Trixie said.   
“Two trolls!” the voice said, “I wonder what the young master would think of this.”   
“We are not trolls, we’re just humans and we’re looking for our friends.” Stephanie twisted around in her net to look through. A short, stout man was staring up at her. He looked at her and scratched his long beard.   
“You’re looking for friends, huh? The young master was talking about friends earlier, but I didn’t think you would make it the night in the forest. Let me get you down.” There was a loud thwack and Stephanie fell and thumped onto the ground. She rubbed her bruised back while Trixie was being cut down. The man, who was shorter than Stephanie was, started poking her with his stick again.   
“Get up, we haven’t time to wait around,” he said, “The young master would like to meet you too.” Stephanie brushed herself off and she and Trixie followed him. He led them to a large rock and knocked on it. The rock rumbled, and a dark opening appeared. Trixie’s hand slipped into Stephanie’s as the walked into the opening and down the dark stairs.   
The short man closed the opening ,and as the world became pitch black, a blue light began glowing from the walls. The man chuckled to himself at Trixie and Stephanie’s shock.   
“A long life we dwarves would live in nothing but blackness!” he laughed. Trixie squeezed Stephanie’s hand.  
“Dwarves!” she whispered. Stephanie got the feeling that wouldn’t be the strangest thing those two would see on this adventure.  
The dwarf led them down a long flight of stairs, and then through a long hallway decorated with ornate stone carvings. It got warmer and warmer the further they traveled, until they came to an iron door. It swung open, revealing a horde of dwarves, a roaring fire, and a familiar figure.   
He looked up at them and a relieved grin broke across his face. Trixie and Stephanie both ran to him.   
“Pixel!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally sat down and mapped the whole story- it's planned out, though it might experience a few changes. Let me tell you, I am so excited to get back to Sportacus and Robbie, although I am also excited for what comes directly ahead. thank you for reading!- lastoftheorder  
> Also, I have some concept drawings that I'm debating putting up. If I do post them, it will probably be on my tumblr,   
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lastoftheorder


	8. Of Dogs and Dwarves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that they're reunited, the Pixel, Trixie, and Stephanie decide on a plan to help find their friends. Pixel gets the dwarves' help to create a device that will track down Sportacus, while Stephanie and Trixie go out to find the rest of their friends when the two girls meet a very peculiar dog which causes them to part ways.

Pixel opened his arms to embrace both of his friends.   
“Stephanie, Trixie, I was so worried about you guys!” he said.   
“We were worried about you.” Stephanie said.  
“What happened to you last night? You just disappeared!” Trixie said.   
“I got caught in a dwarf net, and they found me soon afterwards. They saw some of my gadgets, and took me down here to ask if I could teach them about human technology. I figured that was a better alternative than wandering through a dark forest full of enemies.”  
“Do you know where the others are?” Stephanie asked. Pixel shook his head, but one of the dwarves stepped forward.   
“If they were taken by the trolls, they would be east of the sun, and west of the moon.” he said.. Pixel wrinkled his nose.   
“I told you, that’s not a real direction” Pixel said.  
“That’s what the legends say, young master.” the dwarf said with a shrug.   
“How are we going to find our friends, then?” Stephanie asked, “We don’t know how to get there, or if our friends really are there at all! And we have to find Sportacus first.”  
“I could make something that tracks him down by homing in on his crystal, but it would take a lot of time to build.” Pixel said.   
“How long?”   
Pixel shrugged, “weeks, months maybe.” he said. A female dwarf stepped forward.   
“It would be much faster with our help!” she said, “We are experts with ironwork.”  
“We can’t just wait here!” Trixie protested, “We have to go look for our friends!”  
“Trixie is right. The longer we wait, the more danger our friends could be in.” Stephanie said.   
“Then I’ll wait here and work on the machine, and you go out and search for them.” Pixel said, “It makes the most logical sense, and I know you’ll keep each other safe. Just watch out for trolls.”  
“How are we going to find our way back here?” Stephanie asked.   
“Dwarven networks are vast and deep. You will find dwarves all across Iceland, digging tunnels and searching for treasure. All you need to do is call out ‘til hivelfignu’, and they will lead you back here.” the female dwarf said, stroking her beard, “Although, it would be best if you stayed the night. It looks like a storm is coming in. It’s better for your friends to wait another night than to lose your life.” The three friends agreed that it would be best if they stayed, and they spent much of the evening planning and gathering supplies. The dwarves were very accommodating. Although they didn’t appreciate fresh sports candy, they still made good food and were more than willing to share. They also filled a pack for Stephanie and Trixie with tools they would need which included a small knife, a rope, and a compass.   
The next morning, the female dwarf, whose name was Gerda, pulled Stephanie aside.   
“You aren’t going out in that dress, are you?” Gerda asked. Stephanie looked down. Yes, her dress was a little dirty, but she didn’t see anything wrong with it besides that.   
“Why not?” Stephanie asked. Gerda seemed almost offended.   
“Why, you’re going on adventure. Adventurers don’t go out in skirts, especially not in one so short. You’ll freeze before you find your friends!”   
“I don’t have anything else to wear.” Stephanie told her. Gerda led Stephanie to her wardrobe and began rummaging through drawers until she found pants small enough to fit Stephanie.   
“Here you are, now, mind you, they’ll be a bit baggy, but they should keep you warm.” the dwarf said. Stephanie slipped them on under her dress and tightened the cord till they fit snugly around her waist. They were very baggy, but they were warmer than the white tights she had been wearing. The dwarf appraised them on Stephanie.   
“They don’t look half bad with that silly little dress. I could give you another shirt to wear if you would like.” Gerda said.   
“I like my dress, but thank you.” Stephanie said.   
“But your arms are so bare!” Gerda protested, “At least wear something beneath it! The wind gets bitter in these parts!”   
Stephanie was finally convinced to wear a shirt beneath her dress. It was white, with long, loose sleeves that had bunched at the wrists. It reminded her of her pirate costume at home, and Stephanie felt a twinge of regret. Her poor uncle must have been frantic! He had his faults, but he was a very good guardian to Stephanie, and she had left him to go on a wild adventure. She tried to dismiss the feelings- her friends mattered more than her uncle’s peace of mind.   
Before Stephanie and Trixie were led out of the dwarf caverns, the three friends embraced.   
“Trixie, you’re the oldest, so I want you to take care of Stephanie.” Pixel said as they pulled away. Trixie rolled her eyes, but nodded. Stephanie gave Pixel one final hug, and neither friend wanted to let go.   
“Steph, bring them back safely.” Pixel said. Stephanie nodded and finally drew away.   
The sky outside was dark with clouds, and the ground was damp from the storm. Stephanie suddenly became very grateful for the warm clothes Gerda had given her.   
As the two girls tried to follow the ruin path, they soon realized that it was hopeless. The storm had washed everything away. Stephanie was about to ask Trixie what they should do when a large dog came bounding up to them and nearly knocked Stephanie over as he jumped up and licked her.   
“Hey, get off of her, mutt!” Trixie said, grabbing for the dog. The dog nimbly dodged, and licked Trixie in the face. While Trixie wiped her face, the dog barked at the two of them, his tail wagging furiously.  
“Go away, dog!” Trixie said.   
“Trixie, it seems friendly.” Stephanie said, “It could help us.”   
“But we don’t know where it’s been.” Trixie said. The dog’s ears lowered, and it let out a little whimper. Stephanie stroked the dog’s ears.   
“I think you upset it.” she said.   
“Who cares? It’s a dog.” Trixie said. The dog barked at her several times, shaking its head.   
“I don’t think it is.” Stephanie said. The dog wagged its tail and nodded.   
The dog ran around the trees several times before coming back with a stick in its mouth.   
“Now it wants to play fetch. Great.” Trixie said. She bent down to grab the stick, but the dog quickly pulled it away from her. It let out a small bark through the stick, and began digging at the ground with its paws, clearing out the leaves and grass. Once it became nothing more than mud, the dog tilted its head to the side and began running the stick through the ground.   
“Look, it’s drawing!” Stephanie said. Trixie stared with wide eyes.   
“No, Stephanie, it’s writing.” Stephanie looked closer at the markings made with the stick. There was a straight line with a loop at the bottom, and next to it was a line with a dot above, and the next letter the dog was making looked like a u or a v….  
“JIVES!” Stephanie shrieked. The dog dropped the stick its tail wagging, and started barking and jumping around.   
“You can’t be serious.” Trixie said.   
“Jives, what happened to you?” Stephanie asked. Jives ran around and barked, trying to explain it to them, but it went entirely over Stephanie and Trixie’s head.   
“Alright, so… uh, what do we do to turn you back to a human?” Trixie asked. Jives barked again.   
“Sportacus will know what to do.” Stephanie said. Jives let out a low whimper.   
“Do you know where Sportacus is? You ought to have great tracking skills now.” Trixie said. Jives shook his head.   
“Do you know where the rest of our friends are?” Stephanie asked. Jives barked happily and began running off.   
“Slow down!” Stephanie said. Trixie and Stephanie ran after their wayward friend until they were out of breath. How did Jives have so much energy? He just bounced around and ran circles around them while they caught their breath.   
“Jives, you have to slow down.” Stephanie told him. Jives started barking at her, and then suddenly went quiet.   
“Finally.” Trixie muttered. Jives started a low growl in the back of his throat. Stephanie gripped Trixie’s arm- Jives was trying to warn them. Stephanie slipped behind a tree just as a small troll came bounding through the thick trees.   
“Where dog?!” it shouted, “Want dog!” Jives had somehow disappeared, so the troll was searching aimlessly. Trixie elbowed Stephanie.   
“If we follow that troll, it might lead us where we need to go!” she whispered.   
“You’re right!” Stephanie said. The began creeping after the troll when Stephanie felt a sharp tug at her side. Jives had grabbed her skirt and was tugging her in the opposite direction.   
“Hey, Trixie, I think Jives wants us to go this way.” Stephanie said.   
“You can follow Jives, I want to follow the troll.” Trixie said.  
“Pixel told us to stick together!” Stephanie protested.   
“Yeah, so I could protect you. Now you have a dog to take care of you.” Trixie said with a shrug. Stephanie realized she couldn’t persuade her bull-headed friend, so she pulled Trixie’s slingshot from her belt.  
“You’ll need this.” Stephanie said, “Please stay safe.” Trixie nodded, and the two friends parted ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> four down, two to go!   
> The troll moaning for the dog is a nod to the artist and children's story writer, Jan Brett, who wrote a cute story called 'trouble with trolls', where the trolls are obsessed with stealing a young girl's dog.  
> I picture two different trolls in this world, one patterned after Jan Brett's fluffy haired tricksters, and one patterned after the great Giants of legend, since Nordic/Icelandic folklore has made mention of both, although the Jotunn class of Trolls is far more prevalent. I hope to be able to mix both troll types in, having one being a subclass of the other.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jives leads Stephanie to a house with an old woman who lets her stay on the condition that she helps herd cattle with golden horns. Stephanie discovers a great secret about Jives' family and about humans changing into animals.   
> Ziggy is found trapped in a barrel, and soon Stingy is the only one left to find.

Jives anxiously led Stephanie through the twists and turns of the darkened forest. He would sometimes pull on her skirt to lead her where they needed to, and would growl whenever there was danger. It wasn’t the same as having the sharp-tongued Trixie at her side, but it was still comforting knowing that she had a friend with her.   
That night, Jives led her to a small shack in the middle of the woods where she could rest. Stephanie knocked on the door, and an old woman answered.   
“Hello.” Stephanie said, “I was wondering if I could stay the night here.” The old woman looked down at her, and then looked outside at the darkening sky.  
“Very well, you may stay here tonight, but in the morning I ask that you do a task for me.”   
“Of course! I will do my very best!” Stephanie said. The woman let her inside and made dinner for the two of them while Jives curled up beside the woman’s fireplace and slept.   
“What is the task?” Stephanie asked. The woman stretched and her bones cracked.   
“You will find out in the morning.” the woman said, standing up to clean up the plates. Stephanie jumped up and took them instead. The old woman smiled.   
“You are quite a kind girl.” she said, “So, how is the young man by the fire?”   
“You know he’s a human?” Stephanie asked.   
“Of course.”  
“I don’t know what happened to him, but I know he’s my friend and i want to help him become human again.” Stephanie said, and then turned to her friend., “Although, he has been terribly helpful as a dog.” Jives wagged his tail happily.   
“If you manage to complete the task tomorrow, you might get a few questions answered.”  
“What?” Stephanie turned back to the old woman, who had abruptly fallen asleep in her chair. She turned back to Jives.   
“Where did you bring me?” Stephanie demanded. Jives licked his nose and curled up back to sleep. Stephanie found a small bed in the corner with a quilt on it, and curled up inside, wondering what she would have to face in the morning *************************  
Stephanie woke up to a steaming bowl of porridge and a note on the table. It told her that just south of the cottage was a clearing where she would have to- herd cattle? She read the note again, and it still said herding cattle.   
“Jives, I don’t know how to do this.” she said. Jives barked at her and wagged his tail. Stephanie grabbed her bag and left the cottage with Jives at her side.   
The clearing was a lot larger than expected- and so were the cattle. They were larger than anything Stephanie had seen on tv or in picture books, and all of their horns were made out of gold. There was a pen to one side of the clearing where Stephanie would have to herd them, but the cattle were scattered everywhere.   
“Do you know how to herd these things?” Stephanie asked. Jives barked and ran towards the nearest bull. The bull quickly backed away from the loud creature and headed towards the pen. Stephanie followed his actions and began racing towards the cattle while flapping her arms and making loud noises. The cattle gave her a withering look, but began heading towards the pen regardless.   
The last bull, however, did not like Stephanie’s approach to herding. It grunted and began stomping its hooves at her, making motions to charge. Stephanie suddenly remembered that bulls weren’t naturally docile creatures. She froze as the creature prepared to charge at her.   
“That’s enough of that!” the old woman suddenly appeared in the clearing, waving her cane in the air. The bull huffed and walked back towards the pen where Stephanie ran to close it.  
“Thank you for your help.” the old woman said, putting a hand against her back, “When you get to be this old, you can’t run around scaring magical bulls back into their pens anymore. I’m glad you and Jives could help.”   
“You know his name?” Stephanie asked.   
“How could I forget the name of my grandson?” the old woman asked, reaching down to scratch Jives’ ears, who had sat beside her.   
“Then can you turn him back into a human?” Stephanie asked.   
“Of course. He was the one who asked to be a dog in the first place! He came running to my cottage two nights ago, saying something terrible had happened to his friends. He’s such a brave boy.”   
“Then why all the secrecy? Why did you act so mysterious?” Stephanie asked.   
“Because it’s fun.” Jives’ grandmother said, “I don’t get many visitors. Jives hasn’t visited for years.”   
“How did Jives turn into a dog?” Stephanie asked.   
“Jives’ grandfather was once a prince named ‘Ring’, enchanted to be a dog until he slept at the foot of the bed of one sharing his name. He was freed, but kept the dogskin. We told the stories to our children and grandchildren, and they always wanted to try it on. I’m afraid the process is very tiring and painful, but it was the only way he could think of to track all of his friends down.” she said.   
“I thought no one from Lazytown ever went into the forests!” Stephanie said.   
“Not many have ever since the elves were enslaved years ago, but because I guard the golden bulls, I was allowed to stay. Jives and his mother used to come and visit when he was very young, but the forest was never welcoming to them.”   
“I have so many questions-” Stephanie was starting to get a headache. All of this was too much for her.   
“And you don’t have enough time for me to answer all of them. Jives says he knows where your other friends are.” the old woman said. Jives barked and began running in circles. Clearly patience was not a virtue he had. Stephanie turned back to Jives’ grandmother.   
“Thank you for everything. I hope we can meet again, and you can answer all of my questions.” Stephanie said. His grandmother laughed and waved goodbye.   
As soon as they were out of the clearing, Stephanie turned to Jives.   
“What was all of that? I was worried you were going to be a dog forever!” Stephanie said. Jives didn’t respond, he just sniffed the ground and changed their course a little. Stephanie wasn’t pleased, but followed him anyways. They walked for a long time, stopping only to have lunch, until finally they reached the ocean. Stephanie turned to Jives.   
“Why did you lead me here?” she asked. Jives pointed with his nose to the coastline. Stephanie carefully walked down, being careful of the steep drop, until finally she reached the shore. She looked around. There wasn’t much to see, just water, some large rocks, and jetsam littering the edges. Jives ran to a large barrel and began scratching at it.   
“Jives, that’s just some trash someone left behind.” Stephanie said, but Jives kept scratching and whimpering. Stephanie sighed and went over to the barrel. Jives stopped scratching at it. Stephanie heard a soft thump coming from inside of the barrel. She pulled out her knife and began desperately cutting at the top, trying to pry it open. Finally, the lid popped open and a drenched Ziggy came crawling out.   
“Stephanie!” he cried and raced over to give her a hug.   
“Ziggy! What were you doing in that barrel?” Stephanie asked.   
“Oh, it was terrible, Stephanie. Pixel, Trixie and I went after you, and there were these strange creatures, and this old woman asked me if I wanted some candy. She said it was at the bottom of this barrel, and I had to do was grab it. It was the most beautiful lollipop I’ve ever seen, Stephanie, but as soon as I almost grabbed it, it was farther away. I climbed inside, and the lid was popped on, and then I was tossed around, and salty water started getting through.” Ziggy started crying. Stephanie reached into her pack and pulled out some water. Ziggy drank it graciously.   
“That must have been terrible!” Stephanie said, “you must be starving!” Ziggy shrugged.  
“There was a lot more candy at the bottom. I even found some soda, but I think i’m finally sick of sugar,” he said, “we’ll see tomorrow.” Stephanie rolled her eyes and patted Ziggy’s damp hair. She looked around to find Jives, but he was nowhere to be found. This worried her- it was getting late, and they needed to find a place to stay.   
“Where is everyone else?” Ziggy asked. Stephanie suddenly remembered that Ziggy didn’t know what was going on.  
“I found everyone except for Stingy.” Stephanie said, “Then we’re going to find Sportacus and save the elves.”   
“Sportacus is missing?” Ziggy looked heartbroken,”That must be why he didn’t come to save me.”   
“Don’t worry, Ziggy, we’ll find him, and in the meantime we have me.” Stephanie smiled “I was a superhero while he was on vacation.” Before Ziggy could reply, Jives ran up and began barking at them. Stephanie helped Ziggy up and they followed Jives to a small cave he had found. Stephanie used her pack for a pillow, and Ziggy and Jives both curled up beside her and fell asleep. Stephanie stayed awake for a little while longer. She wondered where Stingy was and how Trixie was doing. She also wondered what Robbie had done to Sportacus. She regretted not knowing more Icelandic, because then she could have known what Robbie had said. Maybe it would be some great clue as to why Robbie had kidnapped Sportacus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of my concept sketches are on my Tumblr- it's official now. They look rather... sketchy :). Huge warning about spoilers, too, if you look at them.   
> Thank you for reading- lastoftheorder.


	10. the Flower Grown in Adversity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It has been roughly two weeks since Ziggy was found, and Trixie has rejoined the friends on their search for Stingy. Once Stingy is found, they group is now ready to search for Sportacus.

“Jives, do you have any idea where Stingy is?” Stephanie asked. Jives sniffed the ground and then shook his head. Stephanie sighed. This was taking longer than she wanted. It had been over a week that they had been searching for Stingy. Trixie had even rejoined the group after spying on the troll for a little while and eventually getting bored. (She said the troll was dumber than a box of rocks, and kept jumping at shadows, mumbling about an isbjorn). After that, she stopped by the dwarven caverns to see how Pixel was getting along. She said Pixel still had some work to do on the machine to find Sportacus, but the process was going faster than he expected.   
“It should be easy. We just find the gaudiest house and he should be there, saying he owns it.” Trixie snorted.   
“Like the one we passed?” Ziggy asked. Everyone turned to him.   
“What do you mean ‘like the one we passed’?” Trixie demanded.   
“We passed this huge castle. I don’t know what ‘gaudy’ means, but it looked like someplace Stingy would stay.”   
Everyone turned to Stephanie. She shrugged- why not? It was the best lead they’d had in a while. They retraced their steps and finally saw the huge castle Ziggy was talking about.   
It was quite worn down, but it still had the grandeur and charm any castle should have. Stephanie walked up and knocked on the door. As soon as she rapped against it, it swung open to reveal a dusty grand entrance hall with an elegant staircase. There was a pattering of footsteps, and two figures came down from either side of the grand staircase. Stephanie recoiled at the two, far too familiar figures.   
“And I thought one was bad enough.” Trixie said under her breath. They were staring at two Stingys.   
The two Stingys actually looked very different from each other. One looked like Stingy if he was a few years older, worked out as much as Sportacus, and had skipped all the awkward and uncomfortable parts of puberty. The other one, however, looked like someone who had gotten hit with the awkward bus. This other Stingy had serious paunch except for where he was excessively skinny, zits, and cowlicked hair. He peered at them through his cokebottle glasses.   
“Hey guys. I bet you have some questions for me.” the awkward stingy said. The handsome Stingy looked like he had finally figured out who they were.   
“Oh! It’s my friends!” he said.   
“They’re our friends, you dingus.” awkward Stingy said, “We’re the same person.”   
“I would never look like that.” handsome Stingy sniffed, and Awkward Stingy rolled his eyes. Handsome Stingy turned back to his friends with a stunning smile.   
“Welcome to my castle. Everything in it is mine, and you can’t touch anything. In fact, you should probably leave.” he said. Trixie was so enthralled with the dazzling smile that she forgot to come up with a clever retort.   
“Just come in.” Awkward Stingy said. Handsome Stingy looked aghast as the group walked in. As charming as handsome Stingy was, Stephanie was really starting to prefer the awkward Stingy.   
Handsome Stingy turned heel and stomped back up the stairs, obviously insulted. Awkward Stingy rolled his eyes.   
“I’m glad I’m not like that.” he said.   
“Stingy, why….” Stephanie began.   
“Why is there two of me? It’s a long story, but I’m more than happy to tell you about it. I’m just grateful to see someone other than myself.” he said. “Why don’t I make you dinner? We have plenty of food to share.”   
“You’re not the real Stingy!” Ziggy yelled. Stingy just laughed and led them to the kitchen where he began cooking. While he cooked, he told them about his story.   
“After I got separated from all of you, I tried to find my way back to Lazytown and ended up getting terribly lost. I was upset that I had lost all of you guys, but I was more upset over the fact that I might not find my way back to my stuff. My stuff! Can you believe it? I cared more about objects than the people who really mattered in my life, and I was mad at myself about it.   
“Suddenly I ran into this woman, and I couldn’t describe her to you. She wasn’t young, but she wasn’t old, either. She asked me what I was doing in the middle of this forest, and so I told her about losing my friends, and all the elves being captured. She said she would give me a wonderful gift that would give me the skills and strength I needed to fix everything, I just had to remember to give half of it up. She gave me two flowers in the pot, and told me to eat the ugly one, and then she left. I thought the other flower was terribly beautiful, and I couldn’t just leave it in the middle of the forest, it was my flower, so I ate both of them and felt terribly sick. I fell asleep, and when I woke up, there was two of me. One got all the virtues of heart and mind, and the other got all the virtues of the body. This castle had also suddenly appeared, and we moved in, because half of me didn’t want to leave it when he could have it.   
“I’ve been stuck here for two weeks with the greediest, most selfish person in the world, who doesn’t even know his mathematics, or his right shoe from his left, and we’re no closer to breaking the curse than when we first ate those two flowers.” Stingy sighed.   
“I wish we could help you.” Stephanie said. Stingy shrugged.   
“It’s rather nice, no longer being so focused on myself anymore. I’m noticing all the little things that I had missed. Right now, I wish I could help you, Stephanie. Your parents never wrote to you for your birthday, did they?” he said.   
Stephanie looked down at the ground while everyone turned to her.   
“Your parents never wrote to you? Why didn’t you tell us, Pinky?” Trixie demanded.   
“I didn’t even know you had parents!” Ziggy said. Stephanie’s throat closed as she bit back tears. It had been months- why did it hurt so much? She remembered that her brown hair was starting to show through her pink dye, and she suddenly couldn’t stand the thought of all of her friends seeing it. She bolted out of the kitchen and ran into the entrance hall, up the stairs and through the nearest door- and abruptly tripped. Her fall was softened by landing on a stack of books and clothes.  
She looked up, and saw she had ran right into what looked like a junk room. There were pots and pans, cracked glass ornaments, stonework, masks, books, splintered chairs, boxes, and other odd, mismatched items. At the top of the largest pile was Stingy’s Piggy. What was this? Stingy would never let anything get disorganized! If there was two of them running around, nothing should have been out of place, and yet here was a disorganized horde with Stingy’s prized possession sitting on top like a crowning jewel.   
There was a rustle from one of the piles, and handsome Stingy popped out from one of them and glared at Stephanie.   
“What are you doing here in my room?” he demanded.   
“Sorry, I didn’t know this was your room.” Stephanie said.   
“Well it is, and you are not welcome here.” Stingy said.   
“I thought you were my friend.” she said.   
“I don’t need any friends. I have Piggy, and I have my stuff. That’s all I need.” he sniffed.   
There was a pounding on the door.   
“Stephanie, are you in here?” Trixie called. Not wanting to deal with her friends again, Stephanie dove into the nearest pile, which happened to have Piggy precariously perched on it.   
“What are you doing!” Stingy screamed. Stephanie lifted her head in time to see Piggy come tumbling down. It cracked, and two small flowers popped out from the chipped porcelain. One of these flowers was terribly beautiful, the other one was wilted and ugly.   
“Trixie! Go get Stingy!” Stephanie yelled as handsome stingy stared in horror at his broken friend.   
Trixie and Stingy barged in with Ziggy and Jives close at their heels. Stephanie pointed as handsome Stingy grabbed the shards of piggy and held it close to his chest.   
“He has the flowers!” she yelled.   
“Yes, and they’re mine.” handsome Stingy insisted. Awkward Stingy walked up to his double.   
“They’re ours, and I bet if we were to eat them again, we would be one person again.” he said, “We need to do this for our friends.”   
“Why? They all prefer you anyways.” handsome Stingy sniffed.   
“We prefer Stingy, with all of his vices and all of his virtues. We just want our friend back.” Stephanie said, “Both parts of him.” handsome Stingy looked down at the two flowers.   
“Do we have to?” he asked, staring at his counterpart. Awkward Stingy nodded.   
“Who gets what flower?” Ziggy asked, pulling on Stephanie’s skirt.  
“I get the pretty one, because I’m prettier!” handsome Stingy cried. Awkward Stingy just shook his head. Handsome Stingy bit his lip and reluctantly handed over the lovely flower to awkward Stingy. The two held up their flowers and popped them in their mouths. Stephanie watched as the two Stingys collapsed. Suddenly, everything went dark for her as well. Everyone had collapsed in a deep sleep.  
Stephanie opened her eyes and looked around. She was no longer in a room full of junk- in fact, she wasn’t even in the castle anymore! She sat up and realized that she was sitting in a circle of trees along with the rest of her friends. The ground was grassy and lush beneath her and the sun was warm. Stephanie breathed in the fresh, delicious air. Something about it comforted her, and she felt like she could forget all of her problems.   
Stingy sat up beside her- and there was only one of him, restored to his proper age and form. He looked around.   
“Woah, Stephanie, do you see that?” he asked. He was pointing outside of the ring of trees where snow was fluttering down.   
“That was some nap.” Jives said. Everyone jumped. Jives looked down at his hands.   
“Huh. I guess Stingy broke all enchantments.” he said, “Too bad the pelt’s gone.” He didn’t get the chance to say anything more before Stephanie and Ziggy tackled him with hugs.   
“You’re human again!” she exclaimed. He smiled and hugged them both closer to him. Stingy and Trixie quickly joined. All of the friends were finally found. Now it was time to rescue Sportacus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is for all you Stingy fans out there- a handsome, selfish Stingy.   
> Fun fact, I'm bad with details. you're welcome  
> Also! I am so excited to post the next chapter- the one following this one brings it back to Robbie and Sportacus, with a very unexpected twist. Thank you for reading  
> -lastoftheorder  
> (p.s., hey Rion!)


	11. The isbjørn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trixie and Stephanie have a heart to heart while they are waiting for Pixel to finish the device.   
> once it is finished, the kid's search for Sportacus, but Stephanie is soon the only one who keeps looking. She learns a terrible secret about Robbie Rotten and his new pet.

It took Pixel several more days to perfect the machine. Meanwhile, Ziggy, Trixie, Stephanie, Stingy and Jives helped around the caverns where they could. They helped explain simple devices that Pixel had created and given to the dwarves as gifts, like digital clocks and microwaves, but mostly, they all had time for themselves. Stephanie found a reflecting pool in one of the caves and stared down at it.   
Her hair had gotten longer than she expected. There was about a half inch of brown peeking through the roots. She touched the brown hair gingerly. She desperately wanted to cover it up, but there was no way she could outside of Lazytown.   
Trixie found her there and sat beside her.   
“Hey, Pinky, I’m sorry.” she said.   
“About what?” Stephanie asked.   
“Not noticing about your family. I can’t believe Stingy was the first one to figure it out. You always seem so happy, I didn’t think anything could be wrong.” Trixie said.   
“It’s okay, I didn’t really want you guys to know.” Stephanie admitted, “There was nothing you could do about it, anyways.”   
“But Steph, I could have forged two letters from your parents!” Trixie said. Stephanie giggled. Trixie touched the brown part of Stephanie’s hair.   
“I never really thought about how your hair was dyed before. How long have you been dying it pink?” Trixie asked.   
“Ever since the divorce.” Stephanie admitted, “It used to be really long, too.” Trixie drew her hand away.   
“Oh.” she said. She finally understood. They sat in silence for several moments.   
“Hey, we can cut it even shorter,” Trixie suggested, “Then it will be easier for you to dye, and I’d have to start calling you ‘Pixie” rather than Pinky.”   
“That’s too close to Pixel.” Stephanie laughed.   
“I think you’d look cute with a pixie cut.” Trixie said, “I’ll even cut my hair, too. Then we could match.”   
“But you love your pigtails.” Stephanie protested. Trixie shrugged.   
“I love you more.” she said, “And besides, I would look even more like a rebel. Did you know the dwarves gave me a crossbow? I think shorter hair would match with it better.”   
“They gave you a crossbow?” Stephanie asked. Trixie nodded smugly.   
“They saw how good I was with a slingshot, and said I was ready for an upgrade.”   
“That can’t be a good idea.” Stephanie said.   
“We’ll see.” Trixie said.   
Ziggy suddenly came running in.  
“ Pixel finished!” he shouted.   
They ran as fast as they could to the main cavern where Pixel stood proudly, holding a small device about the size of stephanie’s fist.   
“That’s it? That’s what took you weeks to work on?” Trixie said in disgust when she saw it.  
“Don’t let the size fool you. It’s a compact super computer which is designed to track and locate Sportacus’ crystal by mimicking the response of someone in danger and locating the crystal’s vibrations and registers it.” Pixel said.   
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Stephanie said. The other children cheered in agreement, and Pixel handed Stephanie the device.   
Stephanie took the lead, following the device as it lit up and beeped at her. The beeping and flashing got stronger and stronger as they headed North East, until finally Stephanie handed it back to Pixel.   
“What is it doing?” she asked.   
“It means we’re really close.” Pixel said, “If we spread out and search, we’re bound to find Sportacus and the crystal.”   
An hour later of searching, most of the kids were exhausted while Stephanie kept on knocking at trees and rocks.   
“Look, Stephanie, let’s head back. I’ll tweek some things on the device to get it to be a bit more accurate.” Pixel said, “This isn’t working.”  
“I’m not leaving without him!” Stephanie said, “You guys can head back without me, but I’m going to keep searching until it gets dark.”   
One by one, the other kids shuffled back towards the Dwarven Tunnels until Stephanie was the only one left. She looked around- there had to be something she was missing. She refused to believe that this all was hopeless.  
Stephanie leaned against one of the larger rocks, but as she put her elbow against it, it didn’t feel quite right. It felt more like plaster rather than stone. She began to mess with it, and felt the top of the rock slide around. After a few final nudges, the top slid off and revealed a large opening.   
“Leap before you look,” she said with a shrug, swinging herself up and jumping down.   
She went down a tube with many twists and turns until finally she was dumped into a large room. She looked around, noticing the eerily familiar layout.   
There were tables filled to the brim with bottles and weird technology, and tubes filled with elaborate costumes. In the center of the room had a fluffy orange chair and a large polar bear sleeping next to it.   
As soon as she saw the bear, Stephanie scrambled beneath one of the tables to hide from the great beast. The white bear raised its head, and Stephanie noticed Sportacus’ crystal set in the collar around its throat.   
“Oh Sportabjorn!” Robbie’s voice called out from the other side of the room. He stepped into view with a large chocolate cake on a platter, “I brought you dinner. This is an old favorite family recipe. You’re going to love it.” Robbie placed the cake in front of the bear, who turned away in distaste.   
“Come on, don’t be like that. You need to eat!” Robbie said, “If you eat all of that cake, I’ll make the next cake be a carrot cake.” Robbie gagged a little bit.   
The bear gave out a little moan.   
“You forget, I saved your life. That troll would have crushed you, and then where will you be? You have food, and shelter, and you get to sleep whenever you want. Can you think of anything better than this?”   
The bear snorted.   
“I know what will make you feel better. Why don’t we check up on Lazytown? You’ll see how loud and crazy those kids are, and you will be even happier that you’re here where it’s nice and quiet.” He pressed a button on a remote and a tv sank down, but it didn’t make a sound. Robbie kept on fiddling with the remote, but nothing changed.   
“Oh,” he said, tossing the remote to the side, “Looks like Pixie TV is off.” Robbie sank down and rested his head against the large bear.   
“Sportacus, you don’t know how happy I am.” he said, “Life is perfect for me. There are no kids, and no flipping and flying around. I can have as much junk food as I want, and now, more importantly, I have a friend.” Robbie nuzzled the bear’s fur and began stroking its ears, “You are the greatest friend I’ve ever had. I’m finally accepted.” It wasn’t long before Robbie was snoring and drooling against the polar bear. Stephanie’s head was spinning. Was that bear really Sportacus? There was only one way to find out.  
She felt into her pack and found an apple and rolled it out towards the bear. It leaned forward and caught the fruit in its teeth, and began tearing into it ravenously. The movement jostled Robbie awake.   
“Sportacus, what are you- “ Robbie froze when he saw the apple seeds clinging to the bear’s fur. The bear stood up and shook itself off and started sniffing around. It moved towards where Stephanie was hiding until she was looking into its eyes.   
And it winked at her.  
The bear then ran towards the cowering Robbie and pounced on him, pinning him to the ground. Stephanie crawled out of her hiding place. Robbie’s eyes widened when he saw her. He was about to say something when the bear interrupted him with a low growl  
“What did you do with Sportacus?” she demanded.   
“The flippity floppity elf? He’s not here. It’s just my pet bear who I happened to name after him.” Robbie lied. The polar bear roared at him, and Robbie shrieked.   
“Alright, so Sportacus is a bear!” he said, “But I saved his life! We’re friends now!”   
Robbie was starting to visibly sweat.   
“And you’ve been keeping him here and feeding him sugar?” Stephanie said, folding her arms.  
“What else am I supposed to feed him? I’m not going to give him that icky Sports Candy.” Robbie said, “He’s my friend!”   
“Friends don’t keep other friends as pets!” Stephanie said.  
“How should I know?” Robbie cried, “I’ve never had a friend before.” The room fell quiet.   
“You haven’t?” Stephanie said. Sportacus took his paws off of Robbie, and Robbie scooted against his chair.   
“Of course not.” Robbie sniffed, “But I don’t need them anyways. Just take Sportacus and leave.”  
“Why wouldn’t you have friends?” Stephanie asked. She walked over and knelt by Robbie, who turned away from her.   
“You and Sportaflop wouldn’t understand.” he said, “You never had to grow up like me. You never had to be an ugly half breed.”   
Sportacus began shaking his head, trying to take off his collar. Robbie grimaced.   
“Sit still, you stupid elf.” he said. He pressed something beneath the collar, and Sportacus shuddered and tucked his large head beneath his paws. He began to look distorted, and the heavy breathing from the bear began to turn more and more into human groans until Sportacus came crawling out from beneath a mass of white fur. His hat was missing so his elf ears showed through his messy blond hair.   
“Half breed?” he gasped out, “like me?”   
“No, not like you, you stupid elf. Just because you grew up as a human doesn’t mean you are one.” Robbie spat. Sportacus shook his head.   
“I am a half breed,” he said, “My mother was human.”   
“It doesn’t matter. Everyone loves elves anyways. No one loves trolls.” Robbie said. He started tugging at the slicked part of his hair, and suddenly his hair puffed up like a cottontail weed. Robbie sniffed and wiped away the tears forming in his eyes which smeared some of the foundation off of his face revealing the greyish skin beneath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally out! I cut a TON out of it, rewrote and rewrote. And it was so worth it to tell the story I wanted to.   
> Sportabjorn, what a lovely bastardization of english and icelandic into one horrible nickname!   
> Anyhow, this is probably the closest I will get to 'Sportarobbie', because I feel like they should have a better developed, although complicated friendship over all. Sorry for all of you who only read these fics because of that. I hope that regardless, the story is enticing enough for you to stay. Thank you for reading  
> -lastoftheorder


	12. Icarus' flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sportacus and Stephanie find out the truth about Robbie's malicious ways and he promises to help them rescue the elves. The rest of the kids aren't sure that they can trust this villain, but Sportacus is willing to bet his life, and the lives of all of his friends on the goodness of Robbie's heart. When asked about his childhood while Robbie is making a plan, Sportacus refuses to answer.

“Why did you enslave the elves?” Sportacus asked Robbie, “They didn’t do anything to you.”  
“It wasn’t about the elves.” Robbie said, tucking his knees up to his chin, “It was about being accepted. Humans never liked me, and I thought in Lazytown it would be different, but then the kids stopped listening to me. The Troll Queen hates half breeds, but she says that if any half troll were to bring her news on elves, she would reward them handsomely and accept them into Troll society. She gave me a new home, away from humans, and I may go to her palace whenever I wish. They treat me like a hero.”  
“Why does the troll queen want elves?” Stephanie asked.  
“Elves have a lot more vitality and energy than most other creatures.” Sportacus explained, “But elves still suffer, so we have to get them back.”  
“Good luck.” Robbie sniffed, “This is not my problem.”  
“But Robbie, you have to help us!” Stephanie pleaded, “You could be the hero to all of the elves!”  
“I think the title of ‘hero’ is reserved for people who didn’t enslave them in the first place.” he said.  
“Come on, let’s go, Stephanie. We’ll figure something out later.” Sportacus said, offering Stephanie his hand. Stephanie shook her head. Instead, she threw her arms around Robbie.  
“Please help us. You would be my hero if you did.” she whispered. Robbie tensed up at first, but then he relaxed into her arms and returned the hug.  
“Stephanie, I can’t just turn my back on my people.” Robbie said. Stephanie pulled away and then lightly touched Robbie’s face, some of his makeup coming off on her fingers.  
“Trolls don’t wear makeup,” she said, “So therefore you are human, and if you’re human, you can’t turn your back on me.”  
“Stephanie, I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve to be a good guy. I am the Villain number one!” Robbie insisted.  
“Then you could be a villain to all those trolls.” Sportacus said.  
“But my mother was one of them.” Robbie said.  
“Your mother was the troll?” Sportacus asked, a little shocked.  
“She wasn’t a Jotum. She was one of the tricksters, a lítill troll. How do you think I got so good at disguises.”  
“Lítill trolls have been servants for the Jotums for the while. If you go against the troll queen, you could be saving all the rest of your people!” Sportacus said.  
“And risk my mother?” Robbie blurted out, and immediately regretted it. The three sat in silence for several moments. Stephanie was suddenly fastinated by her shoelaces. That seemed much more interesting than looking into Robbie’s eyes.  
“What do I get if I help you?” Robbie finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.  
“I- I would be willing to leave Lazytown forever.” Sportacus said. Robbie uncrossed his arms and looked shocked.  
“Wha- no, that….. That’s not a good enough reward. I can’t eat that. I want you to bake me a cake.” he said. Sportacus looked terribly confused. He didn’t have the fondest clue as to how to bake a cake.  
“I’ll help you, Sportacus, don’t worry.” Stephanie said. Sportacus smiled.  
“Then you have yourself a deal.” he said, stretching out his hand to Robbie.  
“And don’t put any of your Sportscandy in it. I will know if you do.” Robbie said.  
“I’ll go get the kids and then we can start planning!” Stephanie said.  
********************************************************************************************************  
“Any ideas?” Robbie asked, looking around the table he had set up. The kids and Sportacus were all gathered around.  
“Why are you asking us? You’re always the one to come up with the elaborate plans.” Trixie said.  
“I know. I just want to get the horrible ones out of the way first.” Robbie said.  
“Is there anything trolls want? We could offer them a trade.” Sportacus said.  
“Yes, they want more elves.” Robbie said, “ and the princess wants a new husband. Both do not help us in any way.”  
“Do they get sugar meltdowns like Sportacus? We could get a ton of sugar and feed it to them.” Ziggy suggested.  
“Trolls happen to love sugar.” Robbie said, “but Mass Poisoning isn’t a bad idea.” Sportacus looked horrified.  
“Absolutely not.” he said, “I would feel better about walking up to their front door and asking for all the elves back.”  
“Great idea, Sportaflop,” Robbie said, “And they would have you captured in less than two minutes. The princess will probably take a liking to you, half breed or not, and you’ll be married to her that night. I’m certain she will appreciate the vitality of an elf and the moans of a human in the bedroom.”  
The room fell silent. Sportacus had turned bright red. Stephanie was very confused. What did bedrooms have to do with moaning? The other kids looked just as confused as she did, except for Trixie who was snickering, and Pixel who just looked horrified.  
“Don’t say that in front of kids!” Sportacus hissed.  
“And miss that reaction from you?” Robbie laughed, “Maybe I should tell you about all the enchantments that she puts on her poor consorts.”  
“Enough.” Sportacus said. Robbie kept snickering, but didn’t say another word.  
“What are Trolls afraid of?” Stephanie asked.  
“Isbjørn,” Robbie said, “Ah- Polar bears in English tongue.”  
“We could let a polar bear loose scare all of them!” Jives said.  
“This is the troll castle. They decorate in bear skin to show their superiority, and like to keep them as chained pets.” Robbie sighed, “We should probably just give up.”  
“Wait!” Stephanie said, “You’re the master of disguise. You can’t give up that easily!”  
“What are you trying to suggest here, girl?” Robbie asked.  
“You have that bear skin that turned Sportacus into a bear, and you said you could go to the troll palace whenever you wanted to. If you were to disguise the rest of us as elves and give us and Sportacus as an offering, we could work from the inside to free all of the elves.”  
“That’s good start.” Robbie said, “Give me some time, and I will perfect it.” Sportacus looked a little crestfallen.  
“Will I have to be a bear again?” he asked dejectedly. Robbie smacked him on the shoulder.  
“Most likely. Of course this time you get some warning before we do it.” he grinned.  
“Robbie, if you’re so willing to help us now, why were you mean to Stephanie?” Ziggy asked, “You did pop her ball when she first came into lazytown.”  
“I did?” he asked with a shrug, “Good. Remember that I’m still a villain even after everything. I will go back to my old ways after this is done. Kiss Lazytown goodbye, Sportadork!” Robbie said. Sportacus grinned.  
“Sure thing, Robbie.” he said.  
“All of you out, I must work on my master plan!” Robbie announced. He paused, “Sportacus, will you stay for a few minutes? We need to talk.” Sportacus stayed behind as the kids all shuffled out. Stephanie lingered before going through the exit. She wasn’t about to leave Sportacus with Robbie again.  
“What do you need, Robbie?” Sportacus asked.  
“I want to know if you’re prepared for what needs to be done.” Robbie said, “You’re going to have to put Stephanie and the rest of those kids in danger.”  
“I know.” Sportacus said.  
“What if one of them gets hurt?” Robbie asked, “What are you prepared to do then?”  
“Do whatever it takes to get them out safely.” Sportacus said.  
“Even if it means abandoning the elves? You may be faced with the choice between charybdis and silica. Do you really think you can make the right choice between a species and innocent children?”  
“Then let’s not have it come to that.” Sportacus said, clenching his jaw. Stephanie scrambled to the exit, hoping that neither of the adults saw her.  
“Let’s hope your wings don’t melt in that bright hope, Icarus!” Robbie said.  
Stephanie popped out right before Sportacus could see her. She ran to where her friends stood in a circle discussing their own plans and ideas. They gave a nod in acknowledgement as she joined them.  
“Do you really think we can trust him?” Trixie asked.  
“He was mean to Stephanie. I don’t think I ever want to trust a man like that.” Ziggy said, crossing his arms and giving a distinct pout. Sportacus came up to them.  
“Robbie is not an evil man,” Sportacus mused, “Misguided by his head, maybe, but his heart is in the right place.”  
“So, If Robbie is coming up with his own plans, shouldn’t we come up with one of our own?” Trixie asked.  
“What about the Dwarves. They helped shelter and hide us for a while. Maybe they’ll help us go against the trolls.” Jives said.  
“Negatory.” Pixel said, “The dwarves will never go up against the trolls head on. They did what they could to help, and now they just want to stay out of it.”  
“That’s okay. If we’re all working together, we can do anything!” Sportacus said with a strained smile. Stephanie bit her lip. Sportacus was trying to hide his concern.  
“Sportacus, why don’t you show us a cool trick while we wait for Robbie?” Stephanie asked. She watched him visibly relax, and he showed them a backflip from off of a tree.  
“That was mad cool, dude.” Jives burst out. Trixie hit Jives in the shoulder.  
“I thought I told you not to talk like that anymore!” she hissed. Jives scuffed his shoe against the ground and rubbed his arm.  
“I like it when Jives talks like that..” Sportacus said. Jives perked up.  
“Really, you think it’s rad?” he asked.  
“Of course it is.” Sportacus said.  
“Hey, Sportacus, next will you tell us a story? I want to hear about your family!” Ziggy said. Sportacus tensed up again, but he quickly covered his nervousness with a smile.  
“Maybe later, Ziggy, but right now I would like to teach you all a fun game.” Sportacus said. The kids agreed, but Stephanie couldn’t help but wonder about Sportacus’ childhood. The elves said Sportacus had a secret that he refused to share with anyone, and she wanted to know exactly what it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read somewhere that people on Ao3 prefer spacing larger to be between sentences? Is this true?


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robbie comes up with a brilliant plan to infiltrate the Trolls and to rescue the elves. Sportacus is willingly turned into a bear, and Stephanie has to learn how to do tricks with him before they go to the court of trolls.

“You are all being too loud!” Robbie stormed up out of the exit while the kids huffed after a very rigourous game of capture the flag. It was all of them against Sportacus, and Stephanie suspected he was just letting the kids win.   
“Hello Robbie, did you come to join us?” Sportacus asked.   
“No, I did not come to join you. You’re being too loud, and now I have a headache. Can you please stop making so much noise?” he said, rubbing his temples.   
“If we be quiet, can you finish the plan soon?” Ziggy asked.   
“The plan? The plan’s done.” Robbie said, “I’ve been trying to nap.”  
“Robbie!” Stephanie said. Sportacus grinned and shook his head.   
“Let’s see it then, Robbie.” Pixel said. Robbie waved all of them into his lair. Inside there were dozens and dozens of sheets and diagrams laid across nearly every surface of the room. Inside the costume tubes were new mannequins that were the size of each of the kids with elaborate disguises on them, matching each child’s signature color.   
“Wow, Robbie, you did this in less than 30 minutes?” Trixie asked, “I’m impressed.”   
“Thanks for working on my plan, Robbie. Now you can present it to these peasants for me.” Stingy said. Robbie glared at the small child.  
“Anyways, My plan is brilliant. Sportabjorn and Stephanie will make a grand entrance into the Troll castle disguised as a bear and the great Bleikur Thjalfari, the bear tamer. You will distract the trolls with amazing feats of strength, training and acrobatics, while the rest of the kids will sneak in disguised as servants, find the elves, and free all of them.”  
“What will you be doing, Robbie?” Ziggy asked.   
“I will be making sure neither group screws this up.” Robbie said.  
Stephanie looked in the tube containing a bright pink outfit. It was patterned off of her regular dress, but it also reminded her of something that could be found in a circus. The top part was a bright pink, high collared jacket covering a pink striped dress underneath. It had white tights and high pink boots, and everything was covered with shiny silver buttons and clasps. Robbie came up and put a hand on her shoulder.   
“Do you like it?” he asked. He led her up to the piano and plinked out a couple of notes. Stephanie looked down and found she was now wearing the outfit. It fit like a glove.   
“I made yours very special. If you’re going to be doing tricks on the back of a bear, you need to be able to stay on, which this will help with. You’ll find that each button is the opening of a pocket. The pockets contain anything I thought you might need. There’s sportscandy in several of them, of course, and one contains a string that will never break, and I included a couple of pieces of candy as well. Take your time looking through it.”   
Stephanie pressed her hand beside one of the pockets, and she felt the fabric give way and she was able to slip her hand inside. She pulled out a whole apple from the pocket and quickly slipped it back inside. The fabric didn’t even bulge or ripple. Stephanie wrapped her arms around Robbie as tight as she could.   
“Thank you Robbie. Sportacus was right about you being a good guy.” She said. Robbie immediately pushed her away.   
“We’ll see if he changes his tune after I show him his disguise.” Robbie sniffed.   
The other kids’ costumes were much more simple, since they didn’t have to fool the troll queen herself. They were styled after the loose, medieval style of the elven clothes. The boys had loose pants held up with large belts, simple tunics and an open vest. Trixie almost had a fit when she saw that she was wearing a dress with a tight red bodice, but calmed down when Robbie explained that the skirt would hide her crossbow and slingshot much better than pants would, and that she could still wear pants beneath it.   
Finally, Robbie got to presenting Sportacus’ disguise.   
“Look familiar, Sportadork?” Robbie asked. Sportacus just grunted in response as he saw what lay in his tube. It was the great white cloak he had crawled out of when he had turned back into a human complete with the blue collar which could fit his crystal inside. There was also a blue saddle and harness along with a muzzle.   
“What’s that for?” Ziggy asked, pointing to the muzzle.   
“You see, Trolls wouldn’t feel comfortable if a polar bear walked in without some form of restraint. Also, this is for all those times when you kept mouthing off.”   
“I change into a bear and then we leave to save the elves?” Sportacus asked. Robbie shook his head.   
“You and Stephanie need practice in order to actually fool the trolls into thinking that you’re real. Your flippity floppity skills might actually come in handy for once, if you can still do them while being a bear.”   
“How long will it take?” Sportacus asked. Robbie shrugged.   
“It depends on how determined you are, but I would guess at least several days.”   
“And how long does it take to get east of the sun and west of the moon?” Sportacus asked.   
“A week, at least.” Robbie said.   
“Then we train on the way. Children, are you all ready to be superheroes?” Sportacus asked, turning to the kids. They cheered.   
The kids ran around, making sure that everything was ready to go and their clothes were on right while Sportacus stared at the fur cloak, stroking the white hairs.   
“What’s wrong, Sportadork? You’ve never been slow to do something before.” Robbie snickered. Sportacus grimaced.   
“I don’t want to change in front of the kids.” he said. The rest of the kids besides Stephanie took the hint and shuffled out of Robbie’s lair. Stephanie crossed her arms and stared and Sportacus.   
“You’re not getting rid of me.” she said. Sportacus looked as if he was about to argue, but quickly decided against it. He swung the large cloak over his shoulders, causing it to billow like a snowstorm of white. As soon as he hooked the clasp of the cloak he let out a painful cry and was forced to his knees. The cloak began to fit against his skin and merging in. His veins bulged at his neck and face and tiny white hairs began to pop out while his facial hair shrunk in. There were sickening cracks as his neck moved and his back curved out. His hands began to merge and his fingernails became black claws growing out of a paw. Stephanie watched as Sportacus’ mouth pulled into a snarl and his teeth grew into sharp fangs while his lips and nose blackened and pulled itself out. The human cries became bestial groans until finally it was a large polar bear stood in his place.   
A small crystal clinked out of the bear’s fur, and Stephanie recognized it immediately as Sportacus’. She popped it into the blue collar and set it around Sportacus’ neck. She patted his ears.   
“I think you make a very charming bear.” She said. The bear just huffed. Robbie hefted up the saddle.   
“Come on, Stephanie, let’s get this on him. You do need a bit of practice riding him.” he said. Stephanie turned scarlet. She didn’t want to ride Sportacus.That was just so wrong! But she didn’t have a better plan, so she helped Robbie set it on. Robbie set on the harness, but he handed the muzzle to Stephanie.   
“I don’t think he needs it yet.” Robbie said soberly, “Now let’s make a grand entrance to your friends.” He hoisted Stephanie onto the great bear’s back and led them out of his lair.   
“Wow, Stephanie, you look so cool!” Ziggy exclaimed.   
“Cool, dude!” Jives said before he had to duck to miss Trixie’s swing at him. Pixel just stared in awe at the two of them.  
“That polar bear should be mine.” Stingy huffed.   
“Can you show us some tricks?” Trixie asked.   
“Sportacus, stand on your hind legs.” Robbie commanded. Stephanie clung tightly to his fur as Sportacus reared up to his full height. Her hands began to slip, but she found she didn’t fall. Her legs were held against the saddle by some unseen force.   
“That- That’s not possible.” Pixel said.   
“It’s magic, boy.” Robbie said, “It’s not supposed to be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to get a life...


	14. family reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sportacus and Stephanie learn a few tricks before finding the troll palace, and eventually split away from the rest of the group to do their part of the mission. The point of view changes as Robbie is reunited with his mother and is torn about whether or not to do as she says.

Sportacus began making grunts and growls towards Robbie, obviously wanting to say something. 

“You’re right, it is time to put on your muzzle.” Robbie snapped. He grabbed the blue muzzle and strapped it on. Sportacus huffed in the moments before it was settled. Robbie then turned to Stephanie

“We’re going to have to part ways soon. Do your best, girl.” he said. Stephanie nodded. This time Robbie leaned in to hug her tightly to him. She returned the hug and thought about when she first met him. He seemed so cold, so cruel. She thought there was no soul within those blue eyes, but there was. There was a kind soul continually tortured by two different natures. Like with Occam’s razor, he tried to choose the simpler path. In truth, he was both. He was a lazy, slovenly troll, but he was also a man with a heart inside who longed for companionship. They finally pulled away from each other. Robbie hastily wiped the tears that were forming in his eyes. 

“You take care of her, Sportacus, you hear?” he said, “I don’t want to see a scratch on her, and if the trolls try to keep her, you turn back to yourself and distract them.” 

Sportacus nodded emphatically. Robbie helped hoist her up on the great bear’s back. She adjusted herself to look like a true performer and grasped the reins. She felt Sportacus’ muscles contract beneath her and break out into a sprint. The castle rose up higher and higher in the sky the closer they got like a moon chasing the falling sun. The chill Stephanie felt was not from the cold alone. Dark magic lived in this place. She clung tighter to the warm, white fur.   
The castle shimmered with gold and diamonds and ice. It’s door was at least 30 feet tall and made from gilded oak. A giant stood at the doorway, towering over Stephanie with a spear in his hand. She wanted to be scared, she wanted to turn away and run, but she knew she had a job to do. She straightened up and rode Sportacus up to the door. 

“Who are ye?” the Large troll growled. Stephanie sniffed. 

“I am Bleikur Thjalfari, the greatest isbjorn tamer in the land. I request an audience with the Queen Storkostlegt to show my skill.” Stephanie said. 

“Why would a human want to perform fer trolls?” The troll asked. 

“I have performed in front of many of the greatest humans the world has to offer. I have met with kings and presidents, and yet none of them seem to fit for my skill. I wish to perform in front of the greatest ruler this world has to offer.” Stephanie said, channeling as much haughty arrogance as she could. Robbie had told her to stroke the queen’s ego as much as she could to get her into the throne room. Robbie also told her to channel as much egocentricity as she could. 

“Prove to me that you’re worthy to even step inside the hallowed walls of this palace.” The guard growled. 

“And show off my skills to a common guard? My skills are far to honed to simply cast away at a single onlooker. Such belligerence! Is this how you treat honored guests?” Stephanie knew she was laying it on fairly thick, but what else was she supposed to do. 

The guard looked stunned for a moment, considering her argument. To turn away such an entertainer could mean the end of his career- and his life. 

“Come in.” he grunted, pulling at the golden door latch. Stephanie wanted to cover her ears at the loud groan the door gave as it scraped across the marble entry, but she didn’t want to show weakness. 

“Now, before ye gets to see the Queen, servants will see if ye are up to snuff and all that. Too many humans visit to steal something from here, whether it be men or gold.” 

“I wouldn’t even think about stealing.” Stephanie said indignantly. Technically, this was true, seeing as how she was only aiding in distracting the trolls while her friends would get the elves out of this dark place. The troll only grunted in response and led her through the gaudy halls.   
**********************************************************************************

Robbie gave three sharp knocks on the back door of the palace as the kids watched him intently. The door swung open and a spindly, tall woman with jet black hair cried out and threw her arms around Robbie. His mom was looking a lot better than she had when he first visited. The Queen treated her like a servant even though she was half Jotunn. The trickster blood in her was too strong to be ignored, he supposed. Then again, he knew more than the average person did about blood that could not be ignored. 

“I got your letter, come quickly, come quickly.” his mother hissed, leading the children inside. Several pairs of eyes looked at them as smallish trolls looked at the new arrivals. All the trolls looked better kept. Maybe having elves aid in the work wasn’t so bad after all….

Robbie steeled himself. His human side was finally satisfied with the companionship he had recently gained and he could hardly deny that side of himself now. Then again, how could he deny his troll blood? How could he take away something that was lifting the burden on his family? 

The trolls chattered excitedly. Robbie was a little shocked as they began taking the children’s hands with huge grins on their faces. 

“Oh, Robbie, you don’t know how excited we all are.” She said. 

“Excited?” Robbie asked. His worries began to melt away.

“Of course. My friends have been a great help in figuring out how to get the elves out, and they’re going to run it by your little friends.” she said, “Now, there is something I need in return for our help.” She took his hand and led him through the maze of marble and gold. She came to a purple door with a large gold lock on it. 

“Promise me you’ll take what’s inside with you.” His mother pleaded. Robbie nodded. What was behind this door? Did his mom want him to steal treasure from beneath that wretched troll queen’s nose? He opened the door and he looked around in disgust. 

It was a doll’s house. Everything was in shades of purple and pink and looked like something out of a toy magazine. The bed was gaudy, with a large canopy drooping over it, and a closet filled with dozens of elaborate dresses had its door wide open There was a vanity mirror with large twinkling lights and dozens of bottles of makeup and hair supplies. On a purple velvet seat was a little girl with jet black hair in pigtails, her face overdone in ridiculous makeup. What was this? 

“Her name is Ella.” his mother said. “She came to us a year ago when the troll queen decided she would make a perfect doll for her daughter. You need to take her with you and find her real parents.” 

“And if I can’t find them?” Robbie asked, his jaw clenching. 

“She can’t stay here, Robbie, and she can’t be alone.” her mom said, “And you know very well I can’t leave.” His mother instinctively rubbed her throat where a magical rune was etched onto her skin. Robbie looked over at the eerily still Ella. The same rune was on hers. 

“This isn’t going to be easy,” he said, “Do you at least know where her key is?” 

“The princess has it.” his mother said. Robbie rubbed his forehead. 

“How am I supposed to get both her key and yours?” he asked, “I only have one more favor to use- if I can get an audience with the queen, that is.” 

“Robert Rotten.” His mother said, “I figured out a way to get you all the keys to freeing the elves. I expect you to do this one task for me.” Robbie stiffened. 

There was so much he wanted to say. He already had to leave without his mother freed once, when the Queen grew tired of granting all of his favors. He had one left, but he never got to say it before he was escorted out. Why did emotions hurt so much? Why did he have to be half human and experience things like this? There was only one thing he could do to stop these rogue feelings. He had to act like a troll.

“Fine, I’ll free the brat.” he said.He grabbed her arm and pulled Ella off of the chair and left the room to find the Troll Princess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was debating whether or not to spin off to Robbie's point of view, and I did it anyways.  
> If you're enjoying this fanfiction, feel free to comment or share it with your friends, and if you have something to say, message me at lastoftheorder.tumblr.com


	15. Everything has Changed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robbie tries to free little Ella, and finds a small child more difficult than he thought.  
> Stephanie performs for the trolls while the rest of the kids free the elves, and the queen becomes so impressed that she grants Stephanie a favor. Scarcely does Stephanie utter her favor when the troll queen shows exactly how many tricks she has up her sleeve.   
> Sportacus who?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There are suggestive themes in this chapter.

Robbie stared at little Ella. He had just pulled her out of the door and she went completely limp. 

“What’s wrong with you, brat? Don’t you know I’m trying to save you?” He hissed. Why did his mother want him to save this belligerent girl? He grabbed her waist and began to pull her with him through the hallway. She soon began to thrash away from his grasp.

“Look, Ella, I’m here to save you, so stop fighting me!” he said, “I don’t like this any more than you do, but would you rather be with trolls for the rest of your life?”

Ella struggled to make words with her mouth, but they all came out as cries and gasps, like a guttural beast trying to make a human noise. Something was off about this girl.

Robbie grabbed her mouth and pried it open, his fears being confirmed when he saw the empty gap in her mouth. Ella was missing her tongue.

Ella bit down hard on Robbie’s fingers and he pulled away, watching the blood well up in the tiny bite marks. 

“I’m not like those troll.” he sniffed indignantly. “I’m part human.” 

He was a little shocked at his own words. Was he proud of being part human? He dismissed those thoughts for a later time.

Ella still kicked and squirmed. Robbie looked back at his mother for help, but she had disappeared. It figured that the Queen must have summoned her to do yet another menial task.

He looked back to where Ella had been and realized the girl was nowhere to be found. She had ran for it while he was distracted. Robbie bolted down the hallway in search of the small girl and called out her name, frantic with desperation. Two servant dwarves walked past him. 

“Did you lose someone?” one of the dwarves asked, “We could help you find them again.” 

Robbie didn’t even give a response in return. Everyone knew that if you let dwarves help you on a quest, it would be fated to have bad luck. That’s why you would never agree to a dwarf’s help. Everyone knew that, right?

Robbie found himself by the open doors of the great hall, hearing the cheers of hundreds of Trolls. He stood at the back of the crowd of Trolls and watched the center of the large room where Stephanie was doing incredible feats of skill and strength. Although Robbie knew that Sportacus was doing most of the work, he still felt a swell of pride as Stephanie flipped off of Sportacus’ back and landed with her arms up in the air. 

The pride Robbie had felt was quickly replaced by dread once he heard the hideous voice of the Troll Queen addressing Stephanie. 

Stephanie stood in front of all the trolls, her breathing ragged as she held her position with arms in the air after she jumped off of Sportacus’ back. They had done dozens of tricks unlike anyone had ever seen before. Horses couldn’t even do what this magical polar bear had just done. The trolls didn’t make a sound. Sweat dripped off of Stephanie’s face as she tucked into a bow. Sportacus nuzzled against her, and she smiled at his comforting touch. 

“That was amusing.” The troll queen said, “And what brought a pretty young human like you all the way here?”

Stephanie bowed low.

“Her majesty is far too kind. I merely wish to perform in front of the greatest audience in the world. I have much more prepared, if Her graciousness would allow me to prepare my next set.” 

“Prepare your next set, and if I like it as much as the first, I shall grant you one limited favor.” the queen said. Robbie’s heart leapt a little bit. Another favor? He could save both his mother and Ella! He pushed himself up to the front of the crowd of trolls and waited for Stephanie to make her pass walking Sportacus. 

“Robbie, what are you doing here? Is everything going alright?” Stephanie asked.

“Yes, most of the elves should be out by now, but Stephanie, I have a favor to ask you.” Robbie said. Stephanie smiled at him. 

“Anything, Robbie.” she said. 

“A little girl has been captured by trolls, and I want to free her. If you are granted that favor, can you ask for the key to her release? Her name is Ella”

Robbie felt a great deal of anxiety over the whole situation. Once he got the key, he knew he could summon Ella to him before releasing her, and for whatever reason he hated the thought of that small girl running through the troll castle all alone. He quickly tried to dismiss his concerns. He shouldn’t care about one little girl because that would just make him soft. 

Sportacus managed to catch the tone in his voice and look in his eyes and beamed at Robbie with an expression that should have been impossible for bears.This annoyed Robbie greatly. Sportacus shouldn’t be able to show so much beaming pride along with so many fangs. 

“Of course. I couldn’t think of anything better to wish for, myself.” Stephanie said. She mounted Sportacus and gave Robbie a wink, circling one last time through her performance area as Robbie slipped out of the great hall with Ella in tow. He had to make sure the other kids were doing as well as Stephanie was. 

***************************************************************************************************

Polar bears shouldn’t be able to do acrobatics, but Sportacus broke all of those rules as he twirled through the air with Stephanie on his back. Sometimes she would step off of him and pretend to be coaxing him to try a new stunt, but both of them knew he would do anything she asked of him. 

Stephanie knew the last bit had to be perfect. She jumped off of Sportacus and landed in a split while he soared through the air. She winced a little as her body spread apart and hit the ground with a thump. She would be sore the next day, but at least she landed the split without too much harm coming to her. Sweat rolled off her face as the trolls went wild with applause. 

“Magnificent job.” the troll queen gave three sharp claps. Stephanie stood up and looked down at the ground- partially out of respect and partially because she didn’t want to look at that grotesque woman any more than she had to. 

“Thank you, your majesty.” Stephanie gave a little curtsy. She wondered how much longer she needed to distract the trolls for, and how much longer she and Sportacus could take. Although he tried not to show it, Stephanie could tell that the great beast was growing tired. 

“You have amused me much longer than most performers do, and so I shall be true to my word. You are granted one favor.” the Queen said. 

Stephanie knew exactly what she wanted. 

“All I ask is that the key to Ella be released to my care.” Stephanie said. There was an audible gasp, and a wail came from the throne beside the Queen. The troll princess was crying big, fat tears across her ugly, pinched face which rolled off of her bulbous nose and splashed onto the marble ground below. 

“You can’t take that, it’s mine!” the princess screamed in a rage. 

“Now, gleði , a deal is a deal. I promised this performer a favor, and I intend to be true to my word,” The queen began, “But I shall give you whatever you want in return.  
The princess brightened up immediately. 

“I want her bear!” the princess squealed with delight. Stephanie clutched Sportacus’ fur protectively. 

“Oh, but my darling daughter, that girl does not have a bear, but merely an enchantment.” the queen said. She smiled and stared at Stephanie cooley, “You almost got away with it, too. You must think you’re so clever, don’t you? You think that your little trick could fool me? We have no desire for your fake bear.” the queen waved her hand dismissively, “There is only one small problem. My daughter is young and needs a doll to play with. It needs to be a perfect and charming little human girl.” The queen looked around the room as if to find such a candidate until her cruel eyes fell on Stephanie, 

“You’ll do nicely.” 

Sportacus stood between Stephanie and the troll queen protectively, bearing his teeth. The queen stood up to her full height which towered over the white bear. 

“You dare challenge me, beast of magic? I will skin you alive and wear your fur as a new coat!” she roared. She paused suddenly and sniffed the air, her lips curling into a smile, “Oh, you’re not just an enchantment, are you? You smell of man. Show me your true form, beast, and I will let this slip of a girl you fight to defend go free.”

Sportacus raised his head and pushed his neck against Stephanie’s hand. He wanted her to take his collar and release his coat of fur. She did and slipped his thrumming crystal into her pocket from the collar. 

Sportacus crawled out from underneath the bear fur once he had fully transformed back. The queen looked at him appraisingly. 

“No, not man, but a hybrid. How delightful!” The queen snorted through her fist sized nostrils, “I’ve never seen one before. Your mother must have been quite the elf whore to get knocked up by a human!” 

The tips of Sportacus’ ears turned red and his mustache twitched. The queen’s yellowed eyes widened and she cackled through her teeth. 

“No, your mother wasn’t an elf, was she, you bashful boy, but your father! He was into something so bestial as a human! Ha!” she quieted a little, “Although, I am known for my bestial human pursuits myself, but the horrid offspring must be killed off. It’s a shame your parents never did that to you. Perhaps we can remedy this tonight.” 

Sportacus remained stoic despite the taunting. The queen walked over to him, easily double his height and circled around him. She reached down to caress his neck and shoulders as if she was eyeing a new puppy. He flinched away from her clawed touch. She clicked her tongue at him. 

“I would expect better from one of the elves, but then again, you are half human. Well, little abomination, you readily showed your true form for one human child. I wonder what you’ll do for the rest.” She snapped her fingers, and several troll guards came through the doors, each carrying a child from Lazytown.   
Stephanie gasped in horror. Sportacus dropped to one knee in a deep bow.

“What do you desire for their safe liberation?” he asked.

“These naughty children were caught trying to steal all of my elf servants from me, so their price will be steep. I want you to give yourself to me. I’ve never tried a hybrid as a consort before.” 

Stephanie didn’t know what consort meant, but with the way Sportacus swallowed and shook, she didn’t think it was anything pleasant. 

“Whatever you wish.” he said. 

“You must be more pleasant than that.” the queen scolded. Sportacus managed to give her a feeble smile. She seemed somewhat satisfied. 

“I also want the rat trolls responsible for this slaughtered.” she said, and then giggled, “Oh wait, they were! In front of the children, no less!” 

Stephanie looked over at her friends. They weren’t even fighting their troll captors. They all just had dead, horrified looks in their eyes.

“How dare you- you have to take that sight from them! Make them forget.” Sportacus said. 

She placed her hand on his neck, and as she pulled her hand away, a shining key appeared in her fingers. Where she touched, Sportacus’ neck glimmered with a strange symbol. Sportacus choked a little and scratched at the symbol, but it didn’t waver. 

“Little one, you have nothing left to offer me.” she said as she held out his key, “But never let it be said that I wasn’t kind. Consider this an engagement present.” She snapped her fingers and the children all fell limp, except for Stephanie. She looked over at Stephanie with confusion. 

“You were supposed to sleep as well.” The queen said, “You are supposed to forget. I promised to free you safely, and I can’t have you wandering back here.” she looked at Stephanie. Stephanie wrapped her hand around Sportacus’ crystal in her pocket. It buzzed like an angry hornet, but she knew there was nothing she could do. The queen kept snapping her fingers, but nothing seemed to effect Stephanie. 

Exasperated, the queen just shrugged. 

“Fine,” she said, “I can work with this….” and Stephanie’s vision faded to black. The last thing she remembered was Robbie’s voice crying out.  
*********************************************************************************

Stephanie woke up in her bed with her uncle leaning beside her. 

“Oh, Stephanie, you’re awake!” he said, relieved. 

“Uncle Milford, I’m sorry I ran off, you must have been worried sick.” Stephanie exclaimed 

“Stephanie, you haven’t gone anywhere ever since you came to Lazytown.” Milford said, “You had a terrible accident a few weeks ago and haven’t been able to leave your bed.” 

“Why didn’t Sportacus save me?” she asked. 

“Who’s Sportacus?” he asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, just so you can relax a little, in the next chapter I'm going to make it clear that Sportacus has time before he becomes a troll consort (Ick, yay folklore research. This is actually a pretty popular theme that I argued with myself about including)   
> Anyhow, I was specifically researching about dwarves, and apparently in Iceland they come from the maggots from a troll corpse that became humanoid (Ick) and since then they have been known to bring bad luck, especially if you accept a gift or weapon from them. In some folk stories, they are helpful, (like in hans tales) but overall my research said they pretty much were bad luck, SO GUESS WHAT I WANTED TO INCLUDE? HA. YOU THOUGHT THEY WERE JUST A PLOT DEVICE TO GIVE KIDS HELP (Actually, they were, then I found out about those dwarves and went, holy wow, I could include that and make the dwarves more than just a plot device to give the kids help, herp de derp) 
> 
> Also, I totally have the story written out as to how Sportacus' father met his mother and I think it's awfully cute, but I don't know if anyone actually cares because it's not Sportarobbie or Glannithro. OH FREAKING WELL, IF YOU WANT TO READ IT MESSAGE ME ON TUMBLR AND I'LL GET A LINK SENT TO YOU OR SOMETHING. IF ENOUGH PEOPLE ASK, I'll just post it. 
> 
> Sorry for the text dump, I've just been SUPER anxious about this chapter and wanting to get it out but also not wanting to leave in too many plot holes, because the story is changing as it's being written and I'm sorry. I would have gotten it to you guys sooner, and Ireally wanted to, but I've rewritten this chapter again and again to the point where i'm mostly just sick of it and want to vent. SO HA, YOU GET THIS INSTEAD OF STEADY UPDATES. 
> 
> thanks again for reading, feel free to comment, I really do read and act on what you guys say.   
> -lastoftheorder


	16. In Trying Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie wakes up and can't tell whether or not her adventures were just dreams- including Sportacus and Robbie!   
> She gets a letter from her father saying he will come and visit.

“Sportacus! Don’t you know? He’s the superhero who saves everyone. He dresses in all blue and always rushes around.” Stephanie tried to do the hand gestures which were common of the beloved hero. Milford just chuckled.

“Oh Stephanie, I do love that wild imagination of yours. If you’re feeling better enough to imagine heroes, why don’t you go and play with the other kids? I’m certain they’d love to hear about him.” he said. 

“They already know about him! He’s saved him when his crystal goes off!” Stephanie said. The crystal! She grabbed for the pocket she kept it in only to find that she was in her pajamas and not in the costume Robbie had made for her. She jumped out of bed and ran to the closet where she kept all of her dress up clothes. There was no sign of her performance outfit anywhere! 

“Well, you certainly do seem energetic today. I’ll go downstairs and make you a nice breakfast, okay?” Milford said as he left. 

Stephanie kicked at the toys on the ground. She never had been so frustrated in her life! She grabbed her pink dress and changed clothes, but while she was changing she noticed something odd. 

Tied with a black ribbon around her neck was a small purple key. The longer she stared at it, the more she realized that she had no idea what it even was or where it came from. She just had a random key around her neck! Regardless, she decided to keep it on under her clothes.

Stephanie ran outside to find her friends. Trixie had stolen Jives’ hat, Stingy was carressing his piggy, Ziggy was licking a lollipop, and Pixel was playing on some handheld device. 

“You guys are all okay!” she exclaimed, running up to hug each of them. 

“Easy there, Pinky, there’s no need to be so touchy.” Trixie said. 

“You mean you don’t remember?” Stephanie asked, “We got lost in the forest when it was attacked by trolls, and then we met dwarves and snuck off to save the elves, but we were caught.” 

“Um, I think I’d remember a game that interesting,” Ziggy said ,”But it sounds fun. We could play it now if you’d like!” 

“Come on, It’s probably just some wild dream she had when she was sick.” Trixie huffed. 

Stephanie was starting to doubt her own memories, although she wasn’t quite ready to give up on them. What if it was just some strange magic the troll queen had put on her friends? She decided to play along. 

“You’re probably right.” Stephanie said, “I don’t remember being sick, but Uncle Milford told me I was when I woke up this morning.” 

Her friends nodded to confirm this.

“You were out for a month!” Pixel exclaimed. Stephanie wondered again if perhaps it had been a dream. 

“You know what else he told me?” Stephanie continued, laughing a little to herself ,”He told me that he didn’t remember who Sportacus was.” 

“Sportacus?” Ziggy asked in disbelief. He paused for a second, considering what he had just said, “Who is Sportacus?” 

“He’s a roman guy who killed lots of people, dude,” Jives said. 

“No, no, That’s Sparticus. I’m talking about Sportacus, the superhero!” Stephanie said, “You have to remember him. He saved all of us many times. He dresses in blue, and wears a funny hat, and he has a mustache that sticks out like whiskers on a cat.” Stephanie mimicked the length with her fingers, “Come on, you just have to remember! Ziggy, you always said you wanted to be like him! You even dress up your teddy bear like him!” 

“Oh, you mean Superman!” Ziggy exclaimed, “Who could forget Superman?”

“Not superman, Sportacus!” Stephanie said, “He always helps us with Robbie Rotten’s schemes and teaches us to eat right and to exercise, and he always there when we need him. He loves sports, and he always flips around. He lives in a huge airship. Don’t you remember seeing it up in the sky, like a huge blimp? He even came to your birthday, ziggy, and gave you a toothbrush.” Stephanie was about ready to cry. How could they not remember Sportacus?

“That fever must have burnt up your brain, Pinky. There’s no one like that here.” 

“Look at Pixel’s surveillance videos. He has to have something with Sportacus in there!” Stephanie insisted. Pixel let out a deep sigh.

“Alright, Stephanie,” he said. He started tapping at his wrist device, and a concerned look was spread across his face, “Inaccessible? What do you mean inaccessible?” he tapped more and grew more and more frantic, “I-I can’t get in. It says that the videos from ever since Stephanie got here can no longer be viewed. This isn’t normal guys.”

“Maybe this is the Troll queen messing with us, making sure you guys don’t remember.” Stephanie said. 

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright, Steph?” Jives asked. Stephanie turned to Stingy, who was the only one who remained quiet the entire time. He was looking thoughtfully at everyone. 

“Come on, Stingy, you know I’m not crazy, don’t you?” Stephanie asked. Stingy stroked his pig and looked up at her. 

“I don’t really know what to think.” he said quietly. Stephanie groaned in frustration. 

“Look, we can go through the forest again, and maybe that’ll jog your memories. Or we could find Jives’ grandmother; she may know what to do.”

“My grandmother? She moved away years ago.” Jives said. 

Stephanie felt her throat close up, threatening to let out a sob. She turned away from her friends and ran back to her house and collapsed on her bed and started crying. 

“Stephanie, are you okay?” Milford knocked on the door.

“Leave me alone.” Stephanie shouted. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Milford asked, “I know it isn’t easy having your father suddenly say he’s coming to visit.” 

Stephanie sat up abruptly. She looked over at her nightstand and saw the letter addressed to her. She snatched it up and saw her father’s familiar handwriting. He wanted to come and visit in two weeks. She felt rage inside of her. He didn’t even have the right to call himself her father anymore! She didn’t want to look at him ever again. He cheated on her mother, and then filed for a divorce. He was the one who broke Stephanie’s family. 

“I think I need to be alone for a little bit.” Stephanie said. Her head was hurting, and she felt a mixture of sorrow and rage making a volatile spirit within her soul. She had to do something! She wasn’t about to dismiss Sportacus a simply a figment of her imagination, not when he meant so much to her. He would step in and show off to her father, proving how much better he was. 

Stephanie opened her window and jumped out. If her friends weren’t going to believe her, she would do this on her own. She made her way to the edge of the town where Robbie’s manhole was. She was desperately tugging at the entrance, but it was still sealed shut. She pounded at it until her hands were bloody, wanting more than anything to talk to someone who would remember, or to find some form of proof. Maybe she was going crazy. Maybe there never were trolls, or Sportacus, or Robbie in the first place.

There was a heart achingly familiar beep of Sportacus’ crystal going off. Stephanie turned and saw Ella standing behind her with an annoyed look on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to tie in emotional struggles in an average life which fantasy tries to overcome (check)   
> Thank you for reading  
> -lastoftheorder


	17. Beaten and Betrayed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ella brings much needed relief to Stephanie's heart, but when it comes to forgiving her friends, Stephanie doesn't know if her heart can take that much.

Ella stood in front of Stephanie with hands on her hips.

“Who are you?” Stephanie asked. Ella pointed to the key around Stephanie’s neck and then pointed at the marking on her own throat. Stephanie looked at the key, and it all seemed to click together. She remembered Robbie asking for her to save someone named Ella. 

“Ella!” a wave of relief rushed over Stephanie, “Do remember the trolls and Sportacus and Robbie?” 

Ella snorted incredulously and nodded. Stephanie started laughing. It wasn’t that the situation was funny to her, but she was so relieved that all she could give to the world at this moment was a sign of joy. 

“Ella, you don’t know how happy I am to hear that. Everyone else has forgotten about everything, and I was starting to think I was crazy. Oh, My name’s Stephanie, by the way. We’ve never been formally introduced, but Robbie told me to get your key. This is it, isn’t it?” Stephanie held it up. Ella nodded emphatically and reached out for it. Stephanie slipped it off of her neck and handed it to Ella. In turn, Ella pulled out a small rock from one of the jacket pockets and handed it to Stephanie. It was Sportacus’ crystal, and Stephanie felt rejuvenated with hope.

Ella took the key and pressed it into the symbol on her neck. It glowed and melted inside, and Ella gave a blissful sigh.

“Do you know what happened to Sportacus and Robbie?” Stephanie asked. Ella stared at Stephanie and began mumbling something, waving her hands. 

“I’m sorry, I can’t understand you.” Stephanie said. Ella let out a frustrated noise, pointed at her mouth and shook her head. Stephanie took a closer look and recoiled in disgust. 

“You don’t have a tongue!” Stephanie said. Ella raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips. 

“That’s okay.” Stephanie recovered from her initial shock, “We can work with this. What happened with the trolls? Can you write it down?” 

Ella nodded proudly. Stephanie grabbed her hand to lead her to Lazytown Library. Ella stopped her and pulled out a note from her pocket and handed it to Stephanie. Robbie’s lazy handwriting was scrawled across it.

Stephanie, I know things will be hard. You have Ella’s key, which will draw her to you. She is willing to help in anyway you need, but please keep her safe. Keep the kids save. Sportacus’ crystal should be able to break the spell on the kids if they hold it, since it protected you.   
Sportaflop only has two weeks before he has to marry the troll queen. If you want to save him, you have to be brave, braver than you’ve ever been before. Braver than I ever will be.   
You have to find your own way east of the sun and west of the moon. Be kind to those on your journey, and they will help you, but for heaven’s sakes don’t let a dwarf help you.   
It’s funny. I never thought that I would lead a resistance. It’s far too much work, and not enough gain, but my mom is no longer here to do it. If you pull this off, you pink tornado, I never have to work again, so do this for me, okay? Scratch that, do this for Sportacus. I know there’s something special between him and you. I think I get it now. I didn’t understand before why Sportacus was the way he is, and then I met Ella. Please keep her safe. I think I’m the only family she has left. She will follow you to the ends of the earth, but don’t let her fall off or I will never forgive you.  
I wish I could do more to help, but the Queen already suspects me. The rest is up to you. Sportadork will kill me if he found out I was dragging you back into all of this, but what can I say? I’m the villain.   
-Robbie Rotten, villain number one.

Stephanie’s hands trembled as she read the note several times over. She raised up Sportacus’ crystal in her hand and thought about giving it to her friends. None of them even made an effort to believe her. Did they really deserve to learn the truth? 

“Let’s go save everyone.” Stephanie huffed. She was about to set off at an angry pace when Ella grabbed her elbow. She pointed to Pixel who was running towards them. 

“Stephanie!” he called, “Are you okay?” 

“Of course.” Stephanie said defensively. Ella grabbed Stephanie’s bloody hand and showed it to Pixel. Stephanie tore her hand away. Pixel rushed up and grabbed Stephanie’s hand once more.

“We need to get this looked at. I was looking through the the surveillance videos and I saw you disappear behind the sign for a long time. I thought I should check up on you, and I’m glad I did.” 

He pulled her back towards Lazytown, saying something about convincing Stingy to let them use his bandaids. 

The other kids soon swarmed Stephanie.

“Where’d you go? We were worried about you!” Ziggy said.

“Disappearing wasn’t cool, dude.” Jives said.

“Here, Let me use some of my bandaids on you.” Stingy started putting colorful bandages on Stephanie’s knuckles. 

“Who’s the chick in the pink coat?” Trixie asked. Ella arched a delicate eyebrow. 

“Her name is Ella. She can’t talk, but she’s really nice.” Stephanie said. Under her breath she continued, “And she’s the only one who believed me.”   
“She can’t talk? Neither can my aunt.” Trixie said. She furrowed her brow and started waving her hands around. Everyone looked at Trixie in an odd way, including Ella.

“What? I know a little bit of sign language. I was asking if she did, too. I have a couple of books she can borrow to learn some of it.” Trixie said. 

Stephanie’s resolve to not let her friends touch the crystal was dwindling away. She had forgotten how kind they could be, and why they were her friends in the first place. She fished through her pocket until she felt the warmth of the crystal tingle in her hands. 

“I know you guys think I’m crazy,” Stephanie began, “But what if I could prove that Sportacus was real?” 

“We’re back to this again?” Trixie groaned, “Give it a rest.” 

“According to science, if she has proof we should hear her out and then make an educated guess for ourselves.” Pixel stated, though he did look warily at Stephanie. 

“Sportacus isn’t real. He’s just something her fevered imagination made up.” Stingy snapped, “There is no hero in Lazytown, especially not one who moves around with his crystal beeping off everywhere.” 

“I never told you that Sportacus had a crystal.” Stephanie said. She held the rock tighter in her fist. 

“Yes you did, you said that he had a crystal, and that we couldn’t share our treats with him or he’d get a sugar meltdown!” Ziggy explained. Was the crystal already working? 

“You guys are all crazy!” Trixie said in a huff, “Looks like this place is becoming CrazyTown instead of LazyTown. Jives, Pixel, if you guys are still listening to reason, let’s get out of here before we get infected with the loony virus that’s going around.” 

Jives and Pixel followed Trixie away, although Pixel hesitated and looked back at Stephanie. Ziggy, who wasn’t one who liked to be left out quickly followed, saying he didn’t believe it all. Stingy silently sulked away back towards his home.

Stephanie was becoming furious. Trixie was supposed to be her best friend, and now she wouldn’t even listen to what Stephanie had to say. Ella seemed to notice Stephanie’s rage and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“They didn’t deserve to know anyways.” Stephanie said, “If they can’t trust me, then I can’t trust them to help save Sportacus. Robbie told me in his letter that I can trust you. I can, can’t I? You’ll help me save Sportacus?” 

Ella suddenly hugged Stephanie. She responded in kind, until she felt the crystal being tugged away from her. The warmth left her hand and Ella flounced off with Sportacus’ crystal.

“Fine!” Stephanie yelled, realizing she was no match for Ella’s long legs and quick speed, “I don’t want you either! I don’t need anyone to help me. This way everyone’s happy, right?!” Stephanie fumed. She grabbed the letter from Robbie in her pocket and ripped it in half, letting it flutter to the ground. 

“There, Robbie, Ella will be safe, and I have to be brave on my own.” Stephanie said, fuming off towards the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's nice to have everything till the end mapped out. i didn't think I'd be one of those types of writers, I always thought I'd be more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kinda gal with writing, but I find it's rather a relief to just have the ideas roughly sketched out.   
> This story is starting to come to a close, I don't know how long that will take exactly but it's coming up in just a few chapters. Thanks to all who read this, and especially to those who leave comments.   
> I do toy with ideas of expanding it just a little further but I don't think I'm going to follow through on any of them, except maybe posting the one about Sportacus' father and mother.   
> As always, thanks for reading  
> -lastoftheorder


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie realizes that she's probably made a mistake in careening through the forest without preparing ahead of time, and soon finds herself helping mysterious old women in the forest in exchange for magical objects.   
> Oh, and something is mysteriously helping her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie, haven't you heard of stranger danger?

Okay, so maybe running off into the woods without preparing anything was a bad idea, but Stephanie had a stubborn streak about a mile wide at this point, and nothing was going to change that. She couldn’t just take her friends with her. They didn’t trust her enough to even humor her, so she saw no need to have them with her.

Although she was fairly lonely. And she found she got lost pretty quickly. And she started to get hungry. It was also starting to get dark. Strange and scary things could happen in a dark forest, and Stephanie started to realize that maybe it wasn’t the best idea to storm off with no real clue as to where she was going. She scrunched up her eyes. Where was north? Where was Lazytown? She realized she was completely lost, but steeled herself. Yes, this was probably a really dumb decision on her part, but she knew Sportacus was in trouble and needed her help. Besides, if she had taken her friends they probably would have gotten her even more lost! She bit her lip and trudged forward.

Night had already fallen when she saw a small cottage in the distance. Stephanie halfheartedly wondered if she had found Jives’ grandmother’s home, but this one looked completely different. As Stephanie grew closer, she realized that it was surrounded by a beautiful orchard of golden apples hanging just beyond her reach. 

An old woman was rocking on a chair at the porch of the cottage, smoking a pipe.

“They look good, don’t they?” she asked. Stephanie nodded and stared up at them. She was so hungry. 

“They should be ready to harvest tomorrow.” The old woman said, “Now, come inside, girl. You look like you’ve had a rough day. Come share my dinner and my house with me tonight.” 

“You’re not a dwarf, are you?” Stephanie asked cautiously, remembering what Robbie had told her. She didn’t see a beard on this ancient woman, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t one.

“Of course not, now come inside.” the woman blew out her pipe and Stephanie followed her into the tiny cottage. 

“I am far too old to harvest all those apples on my own.” the old woman said in the morning “I need a bit of help.”

“But I can’t stay here! I have to save Sportacus!” Stephanie said, although she felt bad to be leaving the old woman without help. 

“And I need my golden apples harvested my dear. I will make a deal with you, if you pluck every apple off of the trees before sundown, I will give you something that will help you save your friend..” the old woman said. Stephanie ran outside and started to scale the first tree, plucking the fruit as fast as she could. She saw a basket magically appear beside the tree, and she dumped them inside before moving to the next tree. The work was hot and exhausting. Stephanie knew it should have been wintertime, yet in this magical orchard the sun blazed like it was the middle of summer. Around midday, Stephanie couldn’t work any longer. She wasn’t even halfway through the golden orchard before she sat down in the shade of one of the trees and began dozing off. She knew she needed to save Sportacus, but she was so tired. Soon she was dreaming of apples and tutus. 

Stephanie woke up face to face with the old woman.

“How did you do it?” the woman demanded, “You picked every tree clean!” 

Stephanie glanced at the rows of trees and saw each basket filled with golden fruit. Not a single apple glistened against the green trees. 

“I-I.” Stephanie began. She hadn’t even gotten halfway through the orchard! The amount of work that had to be done would have taken several days, but the sun hadn’t even set yet. 

“I will let you take one of my golden apples with you on your journey.” the woman said, presenting her with the shining fruit, “This fruit will regain anyone’s health and energy once consumed. If you happen to run into my older sister in your travels, make a deal with her to get her slippers.”

“Thanks.” Stephanie said, “Which way is north?” The woman pointed a finger, and Stephanie headed that way, slipping the fruit into her tiny bag. 

The sun was setting fast, and Stephanie knew she needed to find a place to stay for the night. There was an old tower up ahead with an old woman sitting in a chair. This woman looked eerily like the one who had given her the apple, only older.

“What’s a little thing like you doing out this late?” the woman asked. Stephanie thought it safe to presume that this was the sister of the old woman. 

“I’ve come to make a deal.” she said, “I want your slippers.” 

The old woman frowned. 

“That is a lofty request. If you work for me through the night and spin all my wool into thread, I will give you the slippers, but you must complete the task by sunrise.” 

Stephanie nodded, and the woman led her up into the tower. There was an old spinning wheel and piles and piles of carded wool laying everywhere. The old woman showed Stephanie the basics of how to use it, and then left Stephanie to complete the task. 

Stephanie worked hard for hours. She took pile after pile and spun them as best she could into thread. She was actually quite proud of her work, considering she had never done it before, but the clock ticked on and she grew tired. How late was it? How much time did she have left to complete the task? Her eyelids drooped and she found herself drifting off to sleep. 

Stephanie woke to the old woman shaking her roughly.

“How did you do it?” The woman said. Stephanie looked around and saw that every pile of wool was now sheaths of glittering thread. Stephanie shrugged.

“I-I really don’t know.” she said. The old woman huffed and produced a pair of beautiful dancing slippers. 

“A deal is a deal. If you dance in these, you will never get tired or hurt no matter how hard you dance. When you leave, if you happen to run into my older sister, ask to make a deal with her for her knife.” the old woman led Stephanie out of the tower and into the early morning of the forest.

Stephanie continued to travel north, wondering how on earth she was able to complete either task. Whatever it was, it wasn’t her own doing, and she wasn’t sure she liked that. Her stomache started to growl. She groaned, internally kicking herself for not having the foresight to bring food. She supposed she could eat the golden apple, but she wanted to save it for when she really needed it. 

Maybe there was something left in her bag from her previous adventure. It wouldn’t be much, and it probably wouldn’t taste very good, but Stephanie saw no harm in trying. She reached into her bag and pulled out the apple and the shoes to get a better look inside and was shocked at the little pie inside. She picked it up cautiously and sniffed. It didn’t smell too strange, so Stephanie shrugged and took a bite. 

Salt, meat and onions filled her mouth. She was a little startled by the saltiness, but she supposed that’s what kept it from going bad. Why was this in her bag? Perhaps when she was having supper with the first old woman, it might have fallen into her bag. Stephanie found she had more questions than answers, but she didn’t want to ruin her miracle.

By about midday, Stephanie could see a small castle in the distance with an old woman sitting on the porch. This one looked much like the other two, only older. 

“What’s a young thing like you doing out so far in the forest?” The woman asked. 

“I’m going east of the sun and west of the moon to face the troll queen.” Stephanie said, “Your sisters told me you could help me. I am willing to work for you for a knife.” 

The woman stood up, her bones cracking, and reached for the walking stick beside her. 

“Come in then. I have work for you to do.” the woman said. 

Stephanie followed the woman inside. She led Stephanie to a room where a large fire burned and there were racks and racks of metal. 

“I need this metal forged into weapons and tools. Can you do that for me?” the woman asked. Stephanie gulped. If she had thought learning how to spin thread was hard, she could only imagine how hard it would be to forge metal. She saw the spitting embers from the fare and the large hammer and anvil- could she even hold the weight of the hammer?

“I’ll try my best, but you’ll have to show me how.” she said. The woman broke into cackling laughter. 

“A little thing like you could never forge!” she said, closing the door and leading Stephanie to an adjacent room, “But the look on your face was priceless. How about you polish my armory instead?” The woman opened the door to a large room filled with swords, spears and armor piled everywhere. Beside the door there was a large pile of cloth and several bottles of polish

“I can do that.” Stephanie sighed with relief.

“Finish the job by midnight, and I will grant you my knife.” the woman said. 

Stephanie started on one of the piles and started humming as she worked, and she quickly fell into a rhythm. She would take metal from one pile, rub it down till it shined, and then toss it into her finished pile. What would uncle Milford say if he saw her tossing things like knives and swords? 

Stephanie’s hand slipped as she was tossing a helmet away from her. It went careening over a pile she hadn’t started yet and landed with a thud.

“Owwwwww!” Ziggy’s voice moaned. 

“Can it, or she’ll hear us!” Trixie’s voice hissed. It was too late. Stephanie stood up and ran to look behind the piles and saw Trixie and Ziggy staring at her with their hands covered in polish and shined objects beside them.

“Alright, where are the others?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! sorry this one took so long to get up, between two tests, two papers worth a lot of my grade, and getting sick, this was at the bottom of the priority list. Don't worry, though. I fully intend to see this work to its conclusion, and it will not be abandoned.  
> Again, thank you so much for reading  
> -lastoftheorder


	19. The Knife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The old woman gives Stephanie a knife for her troubles, and Ella quickly pockets it.

“Well, Hi Stephanie. How funny it is to see you here. I was just, uh…” Ziggy began nervously.

“Give it a rest, Ziggy, she’s not stupid. Alright everyone, there’s no point in hiding.” Trixie said. From around the larger piles, her friends stepped out. Stingy was wearing a crown he had found, and Pixel and Jives both looked sheepishly at their feet. Ella had a smug expression on her face and leaned against one of the piles. 

“What are you doing here?” Stephanie asked, “And why were you trying to hide from me.

“We wanted to help, but you were so mad at us that we didn’t think you wanted our help.” Pixel said, “Though you clearly needed it.” 

“Have you been helping me this whole time?” Stephanie asked. 

“Well, not the whole time. We took some time to make sure we were prepared to go off into the forest, which you clearly didn’t do.” Stingy sniffed. 

“You guys are the best!” Stephanie ran to give them each hugs. She hesitated when she got to Ella. 

“What are you doing here? You don’t have to come back with us.” Stephanie said. Ella shrugged. 

“She was the one who came up with the idea for us to follow you and help you in secret.” Trixie said.

“Why would you want to go back to the trolls? Robbie asked me to keep you safe from them.” Stephanie said. Ella raised an eyebrow and smirked at her, and then turned to everyone else and clapped her hands. Everyone went back to work polishing.

“It’s nice not having to keep quiet any more.” Ziggy said, tossing metal into a pile with a loud clanging noise, “We had to work so slowly before so you wouldn’t know.” 

The work went awfully fast with so many hands working on it, and it was nice to hear her friend’s voices. They explained how Ella chased each of them down and pressed the crystal against them so they would remember, and helped them figure out a plan. They all decided that Ella should be (mostly) in charge, since she knew more about trolls than anyone else did. Stingy even gave up his whiteboard so she could write to them, and Trixie brought a book from the library on sign language so that she and Ella could learn together. Ziggy and Jives worked to prepare food for the trip.

“We may have failed saving the elves once.” Trixie said, “But we are not going to fail again!” 

The work was completed long before midnight when the old woman stopped by. She saw all the kids and her eyes widened. 

“I had a little bit of help.” Stephanie admitted, “But we did finish it all.” 

“Well a deal is a deal.” the woman said. She pulled out the knife and scabbard and offered it to Stephanie. Ella bounced over and snatched it from Stephanie, admiring it. 

“Be very careful with that.” the woman said, “It is very old and very powerful. It can cut through any enchantment. Use it very wisely, because there is no way to undo what is done with that knife.” 

Everyone turned to look at Ella, who merely shrugged in response. At least one of the more responsible kids in the group had it. 

“Thank you” Stephanie said.

“Hey, Stephanie, ask her how to get to the troll palace from here.” Trixie said. Stephanie rolled her eyes at her friend, and when she turned back to the old woman, she was gone. 

“I gotta learn how to do that.” Trixie said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the shorter chapter, my muse is running on empty so I'm struggling to get the story going like I used to. Thanks for your patience and thanks for reading!


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group begins arguing about the possibilities of transportation after realizing that without Robbie, they were very, very lost.

“By my calculations, we should reach the troll palace- never.” Pixel said. 

“How can we not reach it? We’ve been there before!” Trixie said.

“Before, we had an actual guide and not just some pointless instructions. ‘East of the sun and west of the moon’? Those aren’t real directions, the sun and moon all move constantly.”

“Shut up!” Stephanie snapped. Everyone turned to her, shocked. She huffed out a couple of breaths into the chilly air as everyone watched her.

“Look, arguing will get us nowhere. Never say never, guys. There has to be a way back.” she said. 

“Why don’t we just go back home?” Stingy suggested, “All our stuff is there, we’ll be nice and warm, and we wouldn’t be lost.” 

“You didn’t complain the last time we headed out!” Trixie snapped at him. 

“It wasn’t just us kids last time,” Stingy said, “We had Sportacus and Robbie to take care of us, and it wasn’t as cold last time.”

“You’re the one who volunteered to come with me. I was going to do just fine on my own.” Stephanie said. 

“By my calculations, you would have been dead by now with no food or water.” Pixel said, “As it is, we’re running low. We have three days before we run out, maybe five if we ration very carefully.” 

“Stop arguing!” Ziggy pleaded, “We’re supposed to be friends!” 

“Yeah, well, friendship isn’t always hunky-dory, Ziggy. Welcome to growing up.” Trixie said. Ziggy burst out into tears. 

“You’re not even that grown up.” Stingy sniffed, “I think I’m the most grown up out of all of us seeing as how we are bickering like a bunch of toddlers over a toy.” 

“Stingy, you still bicker with us over toys.” Trixie pointed out. 

“Stop it, all of you!” Stephanie screamed, “We can’t save anyone with that attitude. What happened to never say never? If we work hard enough our dreams can come true.”

“This isn’t a fairy tale, Stephanie.” Jives said.

“But it’s like one! These are all like the stories I read when I first got here, like helping the old woman, and Jives turning into a dog, the troll queen wanting to get married. They’re all like stories, so maybe the solution is to think like we are in a fairy tale. What ways do people get places in bedtime stories?” 

“That’s all pretend, pinkie! It’s not real! This is all impossible” Trixie said.

“But right now, we’re going to save our elf friend who was captured by an evil troll queen after traveling through a forest where old women gave us enchanted items for helping them. I’d start believing in the impossible if I were you.” Stephanie said. Trixie shut her mouth. 

“My mom told me a story of magical candy, and whenever you licked it it sent you someplace new.” Ziggy exclaimed.

“There’s the ruby slippers in Wizard of Oz.” Jives said, and he wrinkled his brow, “Or was that only to get home again.”

“We could ride on the finest steeds the world has ever beheld.” Stingy mimicked galloping around. 

Ella waved her arms in the air like she was creating a magic spell, but since no one knew how to use magic, the idea was discarded. 

It came down to Trixie and Pixel to offer up their ideas. Trixie just harrumphed and turned away, still vexed about being scolded, so it was down to Pixel.

“Come on, it’s Pixel. He’s going to say we should build some high tech device and fly there. It won’t match a fairy tale at all! I say was tart looking for expensive magical horses.” Stingy said. Stephanie turned to Pixel, and he looked down at his shoes. 

“Come on, you gotta have something.” Ziggy said. 

Pixel mumbled something. Everyone leaned in closer to hear what he was saying better. He looked up and winced.

“We could try summoning the four winds.” He offered. Trixie’s jaw dropped open. 

“Did the geek really just-” She began.

“Yes. Ever since Stephanie showed interest in Nordic mythology I started researching it. There’s several stories in which the protagonist summons up the four winds to help them defeat the antagonist. In fact, our certain predicament matches that of the popular tale, east of the sun, west of the moon, in which the protagonists lover is stolen by trolls after she is portrayed as being unfaithful to him. I don’t think it’s going to work, though.” Pixel said.   
“It can’t hurt to try.” Stephanie said. 

“But Stephanie, the wind isn’t sentient! We can’t just call it up.” Pixel protested. The two began arguing while Ella stepped forward and threw her head back. Her pigtails began flapping in the wind suddenly billowing around her. 

Ziggy watched in fascination. Ella looked like she was talking to something in the windstorm that formed around her. This was far more interesting than the argument that Jives, Stingy, and Trixie had joined. Ella pulled out the knife and frowned. She placed it beside her ear and in one swift motion had cut off one of her pigtails. The hair scattered in the wind like tufts of dandelions while she went to cut off the other one. The black hair swirled and tumbled like thousands of dancers in the air, until all the hair disappeared without a trace. Ella climbed up onto the nearest rock and took a tentative step off, and grinned as the air held her. 

“Guys, you should see this!” Ziggy exclaimed.

“Not now, candy brains.” Trixie said and turned back to Jives, “Look Jives, calling on the winds is a stupid idea and would never work. No one can simply walk on air.”

Ziggy frowned and looked back at Ella, who’s skirt kept on flying up with the strong gusts of wind as she danced around. She paused, grinned, and gestured for Ziggy to get up and join her. 

“Guys-” he urged. 

“Ziggy, this is a conversation for older kids only.” Pixel said, not even giving the younger boy a passing glance. Ziggy shrugged. He would show them. He clambered up onto the rock Ella had stood on only moments before, and he stepped off, but stayed in the air. This was way cooler than getting their attention anyways.

It felt like a dream. This was like the scene from Peter Pan with pixie dust. He could fly. 

“GUYS LOOK HERE OR I WILL START SCREAMING!” ZIggy said. Suddenly everyone’s head turned except for Ella’s, who was busy dancing up high around the trees. 

“Huh.” was all Pixel could say.

That solved the issue of transportation rather nicely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When your muse is gone, but you insist on finishing the story for all of those who invested their time in reading it.   
> I promise, this will be finished! Thanks for reading.


	21. One Last Battle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stephanie and her friends return to the Troll Palace for one final battle against the Troll queen, challenging her to dance.

“Ella, that was a cool thing you did.” Stingy sniffed, “Sacrificing your hair and all. I don’t think I could do that. I, um, like your hair, you know, short and stuff.” 

Ella sniffed and turned up her nose. She made it clear that she did not need the greedy younger boy’s approval. 

“I- I don’t know if I could do something like that. I wish I could be more like you.” Stingy said. 

“Looks like you’ve got an admirer, Ella.” Trixie laughed. Ella sniffed and turned away from them all.

They group flitted and soared through the air. Ziggy was taking advantage of this time to be like his idol, Superman. He zoomed through the air with his arms outstretched, letting his cape trail behind him. Stingy kept on flapping his arms like a bird, scared that the magical wind would stop and he would have to rely on how fast his arms could keep him up. Pixel tried to explain his flaw in logic, but Stingy was having none of it. 

When they landed, the kids all turned to Stephanie expectantly. They were waiting to hear her new plan that would turn out better than the other one. She had the entire flight to think of something, but beyond just having bare grit and tenacity, she didn’t really have a plan.

“None of you would believe me.” Stephanie explained, “I didn’t think about anything other than marching in there and getting Sportacus back.”

“Great, now we have to decide on a plan.” Trixie huffed, “Well, Stephanie, what do the stories say about dealing with trolls.” 

“They like games, but they always cheat,” Stephanie wracked her brain, “They are terrible at anything beautiful. They are greedy, and sometimes tricky, and they cannot create, only destroy.”

“They can’t do anything beautiful? What about dancing?” Ziggy asked.

“I’m afraid they aren’t know for their dancing, Ziggy, “Wait a minute! That’s it! If we challenge them to a game of dancing, and make sure they don’t cheat, we can have the prize be the freedom of the elves!” 

“What do we have to give them in return? I’m certain they won’t take such a risky challenge for nothing; I know I wouldn’t.”

“Simple; we offer them the magical items we were given. I don’t think a troll could turn their ugly noses up at that!”   
“Rockin Plan, dude!” Jives said. All the children seemed to agree that this was, in fact, the best idea to getting the elves back. 

The Magical wind dropped them off a little ways off from the Troll palace. Stephanie led the group to the front doors, her shoulders set back as she held her head high.

“Hello,” She said to the guard at the door, “We are here to propose a game to the Queen of the Trolls” 

The guard looked confused for a moment, and then went inside the doors. He didn’t come out for a while, and the kids just awkwardly stood their, waiting. Finally, the guard returned and let them inside. 

In the throne room, the queen sat on her golden chair and a very familiar face was chained right beside her. Sportacus’ normally bright demeanor seemed dim. His blues weren’t as bright as they normally were, and he didn’t so much as offer a smile to the kids when they came in. All he could manage was just a pitiful glance in their direction. Stephanie shuttered. The queen took her long, gnarled fingers and pulled them through Sportacus’ hair, grinning at how uncomfortable it made everyone. 

“I heard you have a challenge for me. I do love games. Tell me child, what do you propose? Be warned, if I don’t like it, I will kill you where you stand.” the queen said. Stephanie swallowed hard. 

“I challenge you to a dancing battle. If we win, all of the elves are freed.” 

“And if I win, little one?” the queen asked. 

“We have been given three magical gifts from old women in our travels. One is an apple that can restore anyones health, one is a pair of magical slippers, and one is a knife that can cut anything.” Stephanie said. 

The queen licked her lips greedily. 

“Deal,” She said, “but who shall judge this little dancing game? I doubt we will find an impartial judge.” 

“Then we do it by length.” Stephanie said ,”Whoever can dance the longest wins.” 

The troll queen smiled and snapped her fingers. 

“I am a queen, and can hardly be expected to dance. I choose a champion to dance for me.” she said. Alfifa was suddenly dragged into the throne room with wild eyes and messy hair.   
“Deal.” Stephanie said. She wasn’t too keen on dancing against Alfifa, but Stephanie had a trick up her sleeve. She grabbed the magical slippers from her pack and slipped them on. She hoped that they really worked. 

Alfifa was thrown to the ground by her guards as troll musicians walked in with their strange and terrifying instruments. Alfifa climbed to her feet as tears began streaming from her eyes. Why was Alfifa so sad? Stephanie was determined to save Alfifa and all of her people! Shouldn’t Alfifa be excited? 

The music started playing. It was gross music without any rhyme or reason, just screeching instruments making ungodly sounds. Stephanie wasn’t sure how she was going to dance to such horrible noises, until she realized that she didn’t have to listen to it. She began singing her favorite songs in her head, and suddenly she found that she could begin dancing. 

About an hour into the competition, Stephanie realized she wasn’t growing tired at all. Her feet could just keep moving without a single ache. Alfifa didn’t seem to be doing so well. She still managed to dance effortlessly, but she was continually holding back sobs. Stephanie noticed that her friends were all sitting down at this point, and it seemed like Stingy was doing crochet. Well, it was going to be a long night. More power to him for being prepared. 

Hours went by. Stephanie was grateful for the shoes, because she still felt as much energy as she had in the beginning. It was a good thing she loved to dance, otherwise she might have quit just to end the monotony. All of her friends had fallen asleep except for Ella who stared at the dance as if it were the most transfixing thing in the world. Stephanie noticed that Stingy had managed to create a makeshift pillow that he was happily sleeping on. 

Alfifa looked exhausted. Her steps didn’t show it, but her face looked weary and haggard. She couldn’t seem to keep her eyes open, but her steps continued moving. Stephanie glanced down and noticed that Alfifa’s feet had started bleeding. 

An hour later the ground was slick with Alfifa’s blood. Alfifa had nearly slipped several times, but she caught herself. Stephanie noticed that she didn’t feel so much as a twinge of pain from her feet. But why was Alfifa suffering so much? Wasn’t she an elf? Stephanie remembered reading stories that elves could dance for years without needing to stop. That thought terrified Stephanie, but here was proof that Alfifa was losing this battle. Stephanie would ask questions later once this was all over, like why Alfifa wouldn’t give up even though she was so exhausted. 

The queen looked mad. Obviously she didn’t think that this challenge would last this long. 

A little while later Alfifa collapsed onto the ground and was completely still. Stephanie ran to her, knowing that the game was over. Alfifa showed no signs of life. She had danced herself to death. The queen stood up from her throne and gave Stephanie a slow clap. 

“Well done, little one. You have given the elves freedom, the ultimate freedom, in fact. Every single elf in my kingdom shall be executed, and you and your friends will replace them as our slaves!” The queen started laughing. There was a sling of metal from across the room, and the queen was brought to an abrupt stop as a knife went through her head like a hot knife through soft butter. Stephanie turned to Ella,who winked at her and waved her outstretched throwing hand. 

Stephanie cleared her voice.   
“Yeah, don’t kill the elves, or you will be next. Now bring us all of the elves, and we shall take our leave.” she said. 

The trolls suddenly got over their shock and ran to fulfill Stephanie’s request. Stephanie stood up from beside Alfifa, shaking, and walked to the corpse of the queen. The knife had clattered down behind the throne, putting several large gashes into the floor. Stephanie picked it up and went over to Sportacus’ chain to cut him free. Once he was free, Stephanie dropped the knife and began sobbing. 

Sportacus’ strong arms suddenly went around her and held her tightly to him. 

“You did great, Stephanie. You saved me and all of my people. Let’s go home.” Sportacus picked her up in one arm and grabbed the knife in the other, carrying her away from the queen’s body. 

“Good job, obnoxious pink child.” Robbie walked into the throne room and put his hands on his hips. 

“Robbie!” the children screamed and ran to him, throwing their arms around him. 

“Careful, Children, I expect to be the next king of the Trolls, so treat me with respect.” he said. He looked up at the sobbing Stephanie and gently touched her face. 

“You did so well, Stephanie, thank you.” Robbie said. 

The elves gathered into the room. Alfifa’s children ran to her limp body and began screaming in anguish. Other elves picked them up and carried them away. 

Sportacus carried Stephanie out of the palace with the other children and elves following him. The elves stopped in their old village while the rest continued onto LazyTown. 

Life soon settled back to normal, mostly. There was Ella now, and Robbie stayed in the Troll Palace, presumably restoring order and being able to be as Lazy as he wanted to. It took Stephanie several months to visit the elven village again. It just wasn’t the same without Alfifa. 

There was one change, however, that Stephanie was quite pleased about. She finally got the courage to write to her father and agree to him coming to visit. She knew he was her father, but her family truly was here in Lazytown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND IT"S DONE! HALLELUJAH! I promised I would finish it, and I did. there's a lot of loose ends I kinda forgot about and didn't tie up, but I'm ready to be done with this story.   
> I'm a little ashamed of the research I did for this children's tv show just to write this fanfiction, but I'm pleased about being able to show off some of my knowledge of folklore, and this was a pretty cool way to do it.  
> thanks to everyone who read it! Sorry about the freakishly long wait!


End file.
